Evaluation of a Physical Activity Programme for Inactive Men in Ireland

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