Men & Boys’ Mental Health: Emerging Evidence and Innovative Approaches
Read key takeaways from the event here.
Unique risk factors and social determinants drive men and boys’ mental health and can have compounding effects on their overall health. Global health programs must identify and consider these unique drivers in order to respond effectively to improve the lives of men and boys, women and girls, and people with other gender identities.
The Interagency Gender Working Group (IGWG) Male Engagement Task Force (METF) co-chairs invite you to join a webinar on June 2, 2021, from 8:30-10:30 a.m. EDT. During this event, we will explore emerging evidence and innovative approaches for addressing men and boys’ mental health in global health programming and exchange knowledge with colleagues across the globe. Breakout sessions will allow attendees to engage in deeper discussion with featured presenters to enhance engagement and learning.
Presentations and discussions will aim to generate dialogue on men and boys’ mental health as a contributor to and result of gender inequities, especially as they relate to family planning, HIV/AIDS, and maternal and child health. Panelists will explore topics such as how trauma intersects with HIV risk and care-seeking; how father absence can contribute to the cycle of poor mental health and other health outcomes; and how pressures on men negatively impact their mental health, which can manifest in harmful behaviors such as gender-based violence. The featured presentations are:
Global Status of Men and Mental Health
Paul Bolton, USAID
Men’s Lifetime Experiences of Trauma in South Africa and Eswatini
Julie Pulerwitz and Ann Gottert, Population Council
Men The Podcast: Unpacking and Unlearning Mental Health for Men
in Tanzania
Michael Baruti, Ubungo
Calm Line: Supporting Men’s Emotional Health and Well-Being in Colombia
Henry Murrain and María Fernanda Cepeda, Sub-Secretariat for Citizenship Culture – Secretariat for Culture, Recreation, and Sports (City of Bogotá)
We look forward to having you join and contribute to this important dialogue!
This webinar will be offered in English, with simultaneous interpretation into Spanish.
Want to know more about the IGWG METF?
The METF is an information, advocacy, and knowledge exchange network that examines what it means to engage men and boys in health promotion and gender equality. The METF aims to explore why we should engage men and boys, what are the benefits, how to do it, what works and doesn’t work, and what modalities of health services can better reach and include men and boys while addressing gender dynamics that act as barriers to health. Health areas of focus include family planning; sexual and reproductive health; maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health; nutrition; HIV/AIDS; and prevention and treatment of infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. The METF considers relevant social and behavior change, service delivery, research, and policy efforts to improve outcomes across these health areas. For more information, click here.
