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The Putting Men into MENtal Health conference held on 8 October 2015 at Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford was funded by Somerset County Council’s Public Health Team and organised with the Men’s Health Forum.

Brief summary

Timed to coincide with World Mental Health Day on 10 October and attended by 117 people from a wide range of statutory and voluntary organisations, the conference aimed to:

• Raise awareness among health and other professionals about the need to address men’s mental health and wellbeing effectively.
• Facilitate new ways of working with men on mental health and wellbeing with a focus on prevention and early diagnosis/treatment and based on the latest evidence.
• Provide a networking opportunity for attendees and organisations
• Begin the development of an action plan for implementation by stakeholders and to establish a men’s mental health interest group to support its implementation.

The speakers included Jonny Benjamin (mental health campaigner and producer of the TV documentary The Stranger On The Bridge), comedian John Ryan, Trudi Grant (Director of Public Health, Somerset County Council), David Wilkins (Men's Health Forum Associate), Damien Ridge (Professor of Health Studies, University of Westminster), Ivor Dixon (Somerset Levels and Moors Sheds), Patrick Abrahams (Frome Men’s Shed), Lorcan Brennan (Men’s Development Network, Ireland) and Malcom Rae (State of Mind Sport). 

The conference identified a number of ways to improve men's mental health:

• There is now good evidence about what works with men in mental health. This is summarised in the ‘How To’ guide for practitioners.
• It is important for interventions to be positive about men and boys, to respect their maleness to help minimise stigma, and to be ‘solution focussed’.
• Peer support and a ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ approach can be helpful.
• More services should be delivered where men are, including the workplace.
• Settings should be ‘safe male spaces’, e.g. sports venues and Men’s Sheds.
• Humour can be used as a way of raising taboo subjects, including men’s mental health.
• The Men’s Development Network’s 7 ‘Key Questions’ for men provide a practical basis for supporting men in informal and formal settings and helping them identify their needs.
• Male-specific mental health policy could guide the development of future work in Somerset, including that of the new Men’s Mental Health Interest Group.
• The improvement of men’s mental health requires a multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach.
• More work is needed with boys, including in schools, to improve their emotional resilience.
• Further workforce development is required.
• It is important for professionals to listen to and learn from men’s personal stories about their experience of mental health and wellbeing problems and services.
• More research is needed into the performance of existing services, how they might be changed and what new services might be needed for men and boys.

Read the full report: Putting MEN into MENtal health

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