Men’s care on a night out
This week is Men’s Health week, global celebration to highlight the importance of men’s health and to promote and support the physical and mental health and wellbeing of men and boys in our communities.
The theme of this year’s Men’s Health Week is Building Healthy Environments for Men and Boys - focusing on creating physically, emotionally and mentally healthy environments in the home, workplace and social settings.
The week focuses on both physical and mental health challenges faced by men in Australia and worldwide and is designed to provoke thought and discussion about what we can do to improve overall male health.
A recent study led by Turning Point researcher, Dr Tristan Duncan, contributes to the discussion surrounding men’s health challenges which examines the relationship between masculine ideologies and men’s drinking trends, how these integrate with the notion of men’s care, and how we can make positive change by incorporating the values of care and interdependence into public health policy and practice.
The study concluded that currently, opportunities and accountability for men’s care can become overlooked, avoided, or displaced onto women, and that masculine ideals of autonomy can be limiting the possibilities for men’s care in the context of a night out drinking. However, the research also indicates that these ideals may be productively re-worked by weaving values of care and interdependence through our public health policy and practice. By doing this, we may be in a better position to positively transform men’s drinking encounters and the harms that can ensue.