Movember, in partnership with Prevention Institute, is funding 13 communities across the US to improve mental health and wellbeing for men and boys. The Making Connections initiative prioritizes those who have particularly high need for community-level attention to improve mental wellbeing, including men and boys of color, and active and retired armed service members and their families.
The initiative was developed from a detailed landscape report commissioned by Movember: Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys in the U.S., released in 2014 (read the report here). The report found key challenges to achieving mental wellbeing for men and boys in the US include:
- American society is full of risks and stressors such as lack of economic opportunity, an unstable economy, growing inequity, and exposure to violence.
- Trauma, and its associated symptoms of mental and psychological illness, is more prevalent in the U.S. than in most other countries around the world.
- Active and retired armed service members, veterans, men and boys of color, and their families, are disproportionately impacted by trauma in the U.S.
The good news is that there is strong evidence that prevention and early intervention can help improve mental health. Changing limited definitions of masculinity and addressing stigma can increase opportunities for men to seek care that can help prevent and address mental health problems.
Mental health is not only an individual issue, but also a societal issue that Making Connections looks to address with broader community-based approaches and through fostering resilience in individuals, families and communities.
Through Making Connections we are working with 13 communities to develop prevention-oriented, community-driven strategies that draw on local knowledge and customs to develop effective and culturally relevant approaches. Making Connections seeks to connect men and boys in the places where they spend the most time and through activities they enjoy doing. Our goal is to reconnect families, communities and cultural identities to expand and improve notions of masculinity.
Participating sites include Albuquerque, NM; Florence, SC; Canton, CT; New Orleans, LA; Honolulu, HI; Tacoma, WA; Boston, MA; Chicago and Kankakee, IL; San Diego, CA; Houston, TX; Lincoln, NE; and Oklahoma City, OK.
