International Men's Health Week (MHW) always begins on the Monday before Father's Day and ends on Father's Day itself.  This coming year, it will run from Monday 11th until Sunday 17th June 2018.

Each year, there is a specific theme.  During 2018, the theme for the island of Ireland will focus upon the famous words of Astronaut Neil Armstrong - the first man to walk on the moon - when he said: ‘That's one small step for [a] man. One giant leap for mankind’.  The key question that everyone will be asked during MHW this year is: ‘what's your one small step to improve men's health going to be?’

Every year the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland (MHFI) convenes an all-island Planning Group for MHW.  Would you be interested in joining with others from across the island of Ireland to help to shape this week?  This can be done in many ways - from participating in meetings to electronic communication.  All input is very welcome, and helps to make the week stronger and more relevant.

The third meeting of the Planning Group will be held on the morning of Thursday 10th May 2018, in Dundalk, Co. Louth.  However, even if you cannot make this meeting, your ongoing feedback on developments via email would still be very helpful.  If you would be interested in being part of the planning process for 2018 (in any way), email Colin Fowler at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

One way or the other, it’s time to start thinking about how your group / workplace / church / community / sports club ...  could do something to mark this week.  MHW 2018 posters, postcards, Man Manuals, graphics, social media messages and giveaways are, currently, being developed and will be ready in early May.  In the meantime, monitor progress and developments at: www.mhfi.org/mhw/mhw-2018.html

Unfortunately, all of the places at the Men’s Health Symposium held on Thursday 15th March 2018 in Dr Steevens’ Hospital, Dublin (which focused on the health and wellbeing needs of middle-aged men in Ireland) were allocated soon after the booking process opened.  This left a lot of applicants feeling disappointed.  To meet the requests from people who were not able to attend, all of the speakers’ PowerPoint presentations are now available online at: www.mhfi.org/resources/men-s-health-symposium-2018.html  It is also hoped to have video footage of some of the inputs available on this page soon.

Bowel cancer is Ireland’s second most common cancer and it affects more men than women.  Despite this stark fact, men (only 36%) are much less likely to do a simple home screening test which aims to find bowel cancer at an early stage in people who have no symptoms.  The test is free and available to men (and women) aged 60 to 69.  Throughout Bowel Cancer Awareness Month (April), BowelScreen - the HSE National Bowel Screening Programme - will highlight the importance of bowel screening, and aims to encourage those eligible to register for the free test.  People on the register will receive a home test in the post which is easy to use and non-invasive.  The test only takes a minute, and can be done in the privacy of your own home.  Results are usually back within four weeks.  To find out more and register for the programme, visit www.bowelscreen.ie or call Freephone 1800 45 45 55.

The National Youth Council of Ireland is the umbrella organisation for all youth groups throughout the Republic of Ireland, servicing 380,000 young people.  As preparation for Men’s Health Week this year, their National Youth Health Programme has developed a short rapid needs assessment to get the opinions of youth workers on what young men are dealing with in terms of their health, and how they can be supported.  The online survey can be accessed at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/6PFW65L  If you work with young men, NYCI would love you to contribute.

The excess burden of ill health, mortality and premature death experienced by many men, and poorer men in particular, across the developed world has prompted calls for the development of gender sensitised health related services for men.  An emergent body of evidence indicates that successful public health work with men can be accomplished when it utilises elements with which men are familiar and secure.  In particular, physical activity (PA) is proven to be a useful ‘hook’ to engage men.  ‘Men on the Move’ (MoM) is a community-based PA programme designed to engage inactive men to improve their overall health and wellbeing.  The MoM programme was delivered by practitioner partnerships in diverse communities and among diverse groups of men under ‘real world’ conditions to assess both its efficacy and replicability, with a view to scaling-up the programme nationally for population-wide impact.  The purpose of this paper is to detail the protocols used in the design, implementation and evaluation of the MoM programme.  You can download it at: www.mhfi.org/MoMProtocolPaper.pdf

Researchers at NUI Galway are recruiting parents of children in Ireland under two years of age to seek their views and experiences on healthy growth and how this could best be supported.  The team is particularly keen to hear from fathers, as their views on these issues have not been captured to any great extent to date.  The study will involve one interview with a member of the research team which will last about an hour.  Interviews will be held at a time and a place that suits the participant.  Fathers will be asked about their experiences and opinions on healthy growth in young children.  All information will be kept confidential.  This study is being undertaken by Marita Hennessy, a SPHeRE PhD scholar within the Health Behaviour Change Research Group at NUI Galway, funded by the Health Research Board.  If you would like to participate, or would like more information, contact Marita at Tel: 089 2459405  |  Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  Organisations can also get in touch with Marita if they are able to facilitate the recruitment of fathers, and posters and flyers are available for this purpose.

Global Action on Men's Health (GAMH) has received funding from Sanofi to produce a report on self-care which looks at the beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of men and boys, examples of successful interventions by health and other organisations, the potential for improvement, and recommendations for action on research, policy and practice.  Improving self-care has become an increasingly important issue in health policy and practice but, to date, the gender dimension has largely been overlooked.  This project will take a global perspective, and draw on the experience and expertise of GAMH's members and others working in the field of men's and boys' health.  The survey can be accessed at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GAMH-men-and-selfcare and should take about 15-20 minutes to complete.