Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia;
Public Health Res Pract. 2021 Mar 10;31(1):30012001. doi: 10.17061/phrp30012001.
Evaluation of the outcomes of gender-sensitised programs that target men with poor health behaviours is lacking. The purpose of this study was to provide an understanding of the psychosocial changes related to participation in the Sons of the West (SOTW) men's health promotion program run by the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation.
All men who participated in SOTW during 2017 were asked to complete surveys at the beginning and end of the program. The surveys were quantitative measures of psychological wellbeing (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, K10), social connectedness and loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale, UCLA-L), and resilience (Brief Resilience Scale, BRS). In addition, we analysed participants' responses to an offer within the program to provide psychological support to any participant in need. Men were provided with a participant code so that data could be matched at the beginning and end of the program.
A high participation rate (776/1003) was achieved. There were statistically significant improvements in mean K10 scores from pre- (population mean [M] = 17.34; standard deviation [SD] = 6.98) to post-program (M = 14.98; SD = 6.27), and for matched samples (p < 0.001). Matched samples also showed significant improvements in mean UCLA-L scores from pre- (M = 38.58; SD = 10.87) to post-program (M = 37.42; SD = 10.87), and mean BRS scores from pre- (M = 3.44; SD = 0.79) to post-program (M = 3.62; SD = 0.74). Results from the psychological help-seeking question showed that one-third of participants were open to the concept of receiving additional psychological support.
This preliminary data shows that a broad-ranging, gender-sensitised health promotion program can have a significant effect on psychosocial health of male participants. The findings provide insights for future research, and suggest the program has potential for generalisation to other populations.
缺乏针对健康行为不佳男性的性别敏感项目结果的评估。本研究的目的是了解参与由西部斗牛犬社区基金会（Western Bulldogs Community Foundation）运营的“西部之子”（Sons of the West，SOTW）男性健康促进计划的男性在参与过程中的心理变化。
所有 2017 年参加 SOTW 的男性都被要求在项目开始和结束时填写调查问卷。调查问卷是心理幸福感（Kessler 心理困扰量表，K10）、社交联系和孤独感（加州大学洛杉矶分校孤独量表，UCLA-L）和韧性（简要韧性量表，BRS）的定量测量。此外，我们分析了参与者对计划中提供的向任何有需要的参与者提供心理支持的提议的反应。男性被提供一个参与者代码，以便在项目开始和结束时匹配数据。
高参与率（776/1003）得以实现。从项目前（总体平均值 [M] = 17.34；标准差 [SD] = 6.98）到项目后（M = 14.98；SD = 6.27），以及在匹配样本中（p < 0.001），K10 平均分均有统计学意义的提高。匹配样本的 UCLA-L 平均分也从项目前（M = 38.58；SD = 10.87）到项目后（M = 37.42；SD = 10.87），以及 BRS 平均分从项目前（M = 3.44；SD = 0.79）到项目后（M = 3.62；SD = 0.74）都有显著提高。来自寻求心理帮助问题的结果表明，三分之一的参与者对接受额外心理支持的概念持开放态度。
这些初步数据表明，广泛的、性别敏感的健康促进计划可以对男性参与者的社会心理健康产生重大影响。研究结果为未来的研究提供了思路，并表明该计划有可能推广到其他人群。
