Coping after someone you care about has been sent to prison can be very distressing.  Families can be affected in all kinds of different ways.  Typical of the challenges to be faced are: coming to terms with this situation, and needing support and advice in coping with this new reality; dealing with the complex mixture of feelings and emotions experienced, as well as the financial, social and parenting issues which arise; getting to know how the prison system operates; maintaining contact and a sense of relationship; planning for release ...  Situated in Dublin, New Directions is a new initiative which aims to offer a free, confidential, information and support service for families affected by imprisonment.  It offers a listening ear and emotional support to help families with the challenges that they face.  Services are provided by trained and experienced staff in a safe and welcoming environment.  Find out more at: http://familiesofprisoners.ie

The Men's Health Forum in Ireland (MHFI) was established in response to the growing recognition of the need to address the poor health status of males in Ireland.  However, one of the first challenges facing it was to gain access to reliable data upon which to plan future interventions.  This remains an ongoing concern - as the Forum seeks to work in an evidence informed way.

This barrier was, initially, overcome when MHFI launched its seminal ‘Men’s Health in Ireland’ report in January 2004 (www.mhfi.org/fullreport.pdf).  This document provided the most comprehensive overview of key statistics on men's health on the island of Ireland ever collated up to that time.  

To mark its twenty-first birthday in 2020, the Forum undertook ‘Men’s Health in Numbers’.  Funded by the Health Service Executive’s Health and Wellbeing Division, this sought to produce:

1. A comprehensive Trends Report that describes, in detail, changes in significant markers of men’s health on the island of Ireland in the last twenty years.
2. An infographically-driven Men’s Health Report Card that provides a lay person’s synopsis of contemporary key men’s health statistics in the Republic of Ireland.

These were officially launched at a webinar on Thursday 10th December 2020.

In early 2021, an Northern Irish version of the Report Card (funded by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Carers' Support Service) was added to this body of work.

You are invited to download a free copy of each at:

• Men's Health in Numbers: Trends Report -  https://www.mhfi.org/MensHealthInNumbers1.pdf
• Men's Health in Numbers: Irish Report Card  - https://www.mhfi.org/MensHealthInNumbers2.pdf
• Men's Health in Numbers: Northern Ireland Report Card - https://www.mhfi.org/MensHealthInNumbers3.pdf

 A full recording of the launch is available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/WwHZdF2OQLg

 

 

 

International Men's Day (IMD) takes place on the 19th of November each year.  This day offers an opportunity for everyone to celebrate the important contribution that men and boys make to their families, friends, communities, workplaces, society and the world.  However, it is also a time to highlight some of the key issues facing males, and to provide practical support and positive encouragement to overcome these.

To mark IMD 2020, HSE Health and Wellbeing - supported by the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland and the Centre for Men’s Health in IT Carlow - is organising a webinar which explores the impact of COVID-19 upon the health and wellbeing of men and boys. Titled 'Men's Mental Health in these Challenging Times', this free event will: begin at 11.00am; look at issues such as farming, older men and young men; include a mix of presentations, personal experiences and discussion.

If you would like to participate, visit: https://ims.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QlnhU5CZSMaI9QhEyrkF1Q

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