To mark International Men's Day 2020, Traveller men from Pavee Point talked about how the COVID lockdown had affected their health, and about the positive steps they were taking to overcome this.  Hear their stories at ... https://www.facebook.com/paveepointireland/videos/665128827509753

A series of health and wellbeing podcasts have been recorded for Offaly and Laois, covering a wide range of topics relevant to everyday life.  ‘Offaly Talks’ and ‘Laois Connects' podcasts have been developed in partnership with Offaly Local Development Company, Laois Partnership Company, HSE Resource Office for Suicide Prevention (Laois Offaly), and HSE Health Promotion and Improvement (Midlands Louth Meath CHO).  They feature a wide range of interesting topics with frontline staff working across the statutory, community and voluntary sectors.  These are available on all main podcast apps including PodBean, Spotify and Apple Play.  Check them out at Offaly Talks Podcasts: https://www.offalyldc.ie/offaly-talks-podcasts  |  Laois Connects Podcasts: https://laoispartnership.ie/laois-connects-podcasts

When someone has a stroke, minutes matter - because two million brain cells die every minute after a stroke!  To learn about the signs of a stroke, and how to act FAST, visit: https://youtu.be/WckB15sJ9r4

Aware NI is offering two of their workshops online in the New Year: (i) ‘Mood Matters’ is a light and interactive, two hour, mental health awareness training session which offers participants an opportunity to think about how to look after their own mental health.  It explores mental health stereotypes, and looks more closely at how to spot the early signs of mental health issues.  This session also teaches participants: coping skills for everyday life; how to avoid getting caught in a vicious circle; how to break unhelpful habits; and where to get further help and support.  For more information, see: https://aware-ni.org/mood-matters-for-adults   (ii) ‘Living Life to the Full’ (six weeks by two hours per week) looks more closely at the ways in which mental health can be impacted by life events and unhelpful thinking styles - which may then also affect our physical health and overall enjoyment of life.  This programme explores a different topic each week.  Find out more at: https://aware-ni.org/living-life-to-the-full

The purpose of this report was to examine messages about masculinity present in popular television programming among boys aged seven to thirteen.  Much of the existing research on gender representation in children’s television has focused on girls and women.  However, far less is known about depictions of masculinity in contemporary children’s programming.  Media representations of masculinity have real world effects on the wellbeing and behaviour of boys and men, and can impact their beliefs/behaviours.  Media has the power to challenge limiting masculine norms in ways that support men’s reduced engagement in violence and self-injurious behaviours, and improve their health and happiness.  Download the report at: https://promundoglobal.org/resources/if-he-can-see-it-will-he-be-it-representations-of-masculinity-in-boys-television

COVID-19 has had a devastating effect upon all of us - and, for some, more than others.  Living Well Together (Newry, Mourne and Down Community Planning Partnership) want to help people who are out of work to get back in, but recognise that they need to find better ways of doing this for more people.  Many old jobs won’t be coming back, but new opportunities will come forward.  More people will need to re-train and develop new skills, but fewer men take up opportunities in education and re-training.  'What Works for Men?' is an initiative which seeks to ask men about the things that can help to get them into work, and to design better local support services.  Men are invited to: complete surveys; share their ideas and stories; join a discussion forum.  To find out more, visit: www.livingwelltogethernmd.org

Currently, there are few studies which examine the experiences of male victims of coercive control.  Deborah Powney and Prof Nicola Graham-Kevan of the University of Central Lancashire have, therefore, launched a new international survey - translated into several languages - exploring this area.  Their survey aims to evaluate the experiences of male victims arising from psychological, emotional, financial and sexual coercion.  Details on the survey can be accessed at: https://uclan.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6rEoyAUolAUn8SV

In this new project, Gemma Carney and Paula Devine (from ARK) are working with Jane Lugea (School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen's University Belfast) to investigate how the language of contemporary fiction represents the minds of characters with dementia.  The research includes mind style analysis of fictional texts, to explore how the language represents the cognitive experience of these characters i.e. their mind styles.  A series of reading groups will investigate how readers respond to these mind styles.  Find out more at: https://blogs.qub.ac.uk/dementiafiction