Taylor Jane, Cole Rachel, Kynn Mary, Lowe John
School of Health and Sport Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia.
Health Promot J Austr. 2018 Dec;29(3):236-242. doi: 10.1002/hpja.15. Epub 2018 Jan 3.
Improving the health of men is a national policy priority. The Men's Shed program is one health promoting initiative that seeks to improve the health and wellbeing of men. This study assessed Men's Shed members' perceptions of the health and wellbeing benefits of Men's Shed activity in a large regional Queensland Men's Shed.
Data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire from 147 and three group interviews with 17 shedders. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to determine differences in shedders perceived health and wellbeing measures retrospectively just before joining the Men's Shed and currently. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data.
There was no change in overall self-assessed health of shedders before and after joining the Men's Shed. Shedders expanded their social networks, and experienced less felt need for social interaction. Shedders' level of satisfaction with feeling part of the community and life as a whole increased. Health and wellbeing benefits of Men's Shed included fellowship, sense of belonging, access to equipment, and learning new and sharing their own skills.
The Men's Shed appeared to provide social health and wellbeing benefits to its members, and an environment for quality social interaction. The Men's Shed is seen as a place for and about members - men. SO WHAT?: Men's Shed may have a unique role in supporting the social health and wellbeing of men beyond that already available from other community groups by providing an environment for the fellowship of men and activities of interest in an unstructured way.
改善男性健康是一项国家政策重点。男性活动中心项目是一项旨在改善男性健康和福祉的健康促进倡议。本研究评估了昆士兰州一个大型地区男性活动中心成员对男性活动中心活动对健康和福祉益处的看法。
通过自填问卷收集了147份数据，并对17名活动中心成员进行了3次小组访谈。采用Wilcoxon符号秩检验来确定活动中心成员在加入男性活动中心之前和目前对自身健康和福祉衡量指标的感知差异。采用主题分析法对定性数据进行分析。
加入男性活动中心前后，活动中心成员的总体自我评估健康状况没有变化。活动中心成员扩大了他们的社交网络，并且感觉对社交互动的需求减少了。活动中心成员对作为社区一部分以及整体生活的满意度有所提高。男性活动中心对健康和福祉的益处包括友谊、归属感、使用设备的机会以及学习新技能和分享自己的技能。
男性活动中心似乎为其成员提供了社交健康和福祉方面的益处，以及一个高质量社交互动的环境。男性活动中心被视为一个为成员——男性——提供服务且围绕男性的场所。那么又如何呢？：男性活动中心可能在支持男性的社交健康和福祉方面发挥独特作用，其作用超出了其他社区团体已经提供的范围，因为它以一种非结构化的方式提供了一个男性交流和开展感兴趣活动的环境。
