British Sociological Association Virtual Annual Conference 2024

Description

Conference paper 'Men’s Health in Northern Ireland. Do We Need a Men’s Health Policy?'
The prioritisation of men’s health in health and social policies in the United Kingdom (UK) is
questionable, despite accounting for half the population in 2020. A gendered approach to health is evident with the development of a Women’s Health Strategy in England in 2022. However, a men’s health policy or strategy is lacking across the four UK jurisdictions. The Republic of Ireland was the first in the world to implement a men’s health policy, which was deemed successful (Richardson and Smith, 2011). Yet the political vacuum in Northern Ireland (NI) has resulted in an impasse for policy development, despite the Gender Equality Strategy Expert Advisory Panel (Gray et al., 2020) highlighting the need to consider the complexity of gendered health outcomes as separate policy issues.

There is also a research vacuum, with few studies having comprehensively examined the state of men’s health in NI. To this end, this study presents a narrative review of trends in males’ physical and mental health. Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory is utilised to aid a holistic explanation of these trends. Data from publicly available administrative data and survey sources were systematically searched and key findings included the high suicide rates among males across time and young males being more likely to self-report certain mental health problems. The study concludes that there is a need for a men’s health policy to address variable health outcomes within specific groups of men. Practical recommendations on its implementation and a Health Impact Pyramid to illustrate these steps are presented.

Period	03 Apr 2024 → 05 Apr 2024
Event type	Conference