Men’s Health, Masculinities, Work and Wellbeing (Symposium, 19 March, Durham)

Research Summary: Men's Health, Masculinities, Work and Wellbeing Symposium

Event Type: Academic symposium on men's health research and policy implications

Date & Location: 19 March 2014, 9:30-17:00, Trevelyon College, Durham

Keynote Speaker: Professor John Oliffe

Core Research Focus: Intersections between masculinities, employment precarity, and physical/mental wellbeing across populations affected by industrial decline and recession

Key Topics Addressed: Men's health service engagement, worklessness in young men, work-related depression and suicide, alcohol use and masculine identity, gender epidemiology of premature mortality

Evidence Base: Moderate to strong—established research demonstrates disproportionate male job losses in manufacturing/construction and documented links between employment instability and mental health outcomes

Primary Mechanism: Economic dislocation disrupts masculine work identity and sense of agency, with cascading effects on health behaviors and psychological wellbeing

Notable Interventions Reviewed: Workplace health behavior change initiatives and community-based masculinity-sensitive engagement (e.g., Football Fans in Training)

Attendance: Free but registration required; abstract submissions invited from postgraduate and early-career researchers for poster competition

Men’s Health, Masculinities, Work and Wellbeing
19th March 2014
9:30 to 17:00, Trevelyan College, Durham
Keynote Speaker : Professor John Oliffe.

This symposium will bring together a wealth of current research from leading academics in the field of men’s health, as well as considering the future of men’s health research.

Recession, industrial decline and job loss have significant implications for the physical and mental wellbeing of individuals and families, and the communities in which they live, especially where those communities have been heavily dependent on industries which have collapsed or gone into steep decline. In the UK, the recession has seen the majority of job losses occur in the manufacturing, construction and transportation industries which have affected men disproportionately. Long term decline has resulted in high unemployment and incapacity across generations. Access to meaningful, stable employment is central to a sense of wellbeing; it is especially relevant to describe linkages between masculinities, work and well-being as the economic crisis continues to rupture many men’s work identities. Efforts at promoting health-related behaviour change to men have taken place in workplace settings as well as settings that have complex linkages with masculinity, e.g. football clubs. And yet, men are still dying early and from preventable causes.

Where are we now with men’s health and masculinities? Setting the scene. Dr Sally Brown, Professor John Oliffe
Understanding men’s engagement with health services: the good, the bad and those in-between. Professor Steve Robertson
Young men, worklessness & well-being: biographies of “exclusion”. Professor Robert MacDonald and Professor Tracy Shildrick
Masculinities and men’s work related depression and suicide in North America. Professor John Oliffe
Engaging men in weight management and behaviours change in non-health settings: the Football Fans in Training study. Professor Kate Hunt
“It’s an act of friendship, isn’t it, saying ‘do you want a pint?” Alcohol and the construction of masculinity in midlife men. Dr Carol Emslie
Premature death in men: the role of Gender Epidemiology in unravelling the mystery. Professor Alan White

This event is free to attend but spaces are limited so registration is essential. Please register your place using this link. For all enquiries please contact Dr Sally Brown.

Call for abstracts: Abstracts are invited from post-graduate students and early career researchers for posters to be displayed at the symposium. We welcome theoretical, methodological and empirical posters on any aspect of men’s health and masculinities. Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words, and should be submitted to Dr Sally Brown by 20th December. Prizes will be awarded for the best posters.

This event is supported by funding from the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness. Other supporters include the Social Futures Institute (Teesside University), the Centre for Sex, Gender and Sexualities (Durham University) and the Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing.