The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive, Teagasc and IT Carlow are working together to fund an action research programme that will develop a training programme to support agricultural advisors to engage with farmers around their health and wellbeing.  The ‘On Feirm Ground’ initiative is part of the Engage National Men’s Health Training Programme.  The research and resource development stage of ‘On Feirm Ground’ has been ongoing for the past twelve months.  On Monday 19th October 2020, a report was launched by Frank Feighan TD (Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health and Wellbeing) and Martin Heydon TD (Minister of State with responsibility for Farm Safety).  This outlined the key outcomes of the formative evaluation to inform the design of this bespoke farmers’ health training programme.  Copies of the Executive Summary report can be downloaded from: www.mhfi.org/OFGexecutive.pdf

As the HSE can’t deliver their Stress Control Classes in the community just now, they are, instead, live-streaming the classes until December 2020.  These are free to participate in online, and the next series will commence on Monday 2nd November 2020.  Details can be found at: https://stresscontrol.ie

Men are less likely than women to seek help for mental health issues and are much more likely to die through suicide.  This WHO scoping review (titled: 'Mental Health, Men and Culture: How do Sociocultural Constructions of Masculinities Relate to Men’s Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviour in the WHO European Region?') examined recent evidence published in English and Russian on the role of socially constructed masculinity norms in men’s help-seeking behaviour for mental health issues.  Download the report at: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/332974/9789289055130-eng.pdf

This article, in the Journal of Agromedicine, seeks to: provide an overview of the impacts of - and responses to - the spread of COVID-19 in Ireland; assess the vulnerability of the population living in rural areas to COVID-19; compare the health status of male farmers to underlying medical conditions frequently associated with those experiencing the worst impacts of the illness; and assess the implications of COVID-19 for farmers living alone and farm households with children.  You can download a copy of the article at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1059924X.2020.1814920

The Public Health Agency has produced a flyer called 'A Useful Guide to Mental and Emotional Wellbeing Resources’.  This offers signposting to a range of information, services and support for people who live in Northern Ireland.  You can view it at: www.mindingyourhead.info/sites/default/files/publications/useful_guide_to_mental_and_emotional_wellbeing_resources_pdf.pdf

During September 2020, the Marie Keating Foundation ran a ‘Stand Up for Your Prostate’ campaign.  This sought to open-up a discussion about prostate cancer, and encourage men to seek advice from their GP if they notice any changes in their bodies or when they reach the age of 50 (or 45 with a family history of prostate cancer).  Five of Ireland’s top comedians (Des Bishop, PJ Gallagher, Danny O’Brien, Gearoid Farrelly and Al Foran) came together to encourage men to ‘step up to the mic’ when it comes to speaking about their health. You can hear their stories and find out more at: www.mariekeating.ie/standupforyourprostate2020

St Vincent's University Hospital invites you to participate in their online Stop Smoking Course.  This six week programme will: provide support; help develop skills to stop smoking; provide advice on stop smoking medications.  It will take place on Mondays, from 2nd November to 7th December 2020, between 5.30pm and 7.00pm.  For more information / to book a place, contact the Department of Preventive Medicine and Health Promotion at Tel: 01 2214958  |  Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For people undergoing cancer treatment, the opportunity to preserve fertility can be very important for quality of life in survivorship.  This webinar - being run by the Irish Cancer Society on Friday 6th November 2020 at 1.00pm - will: bring together a panel of people with lived experience, as well as fertility and healthcare experts; discuss the current situation regarding fertility preservation for cancer patients; make recommendations for the future.  Everyone is welcome to register for this free event at: https://bit.ly/353cz5l