Recommended Reading

There is a lot of great research material available on Men's Sheds.
Below are several sources:

Where's the Proof?

Men's Shed Ottawa Centre's web page collection of proof of Shedder's assertions

Men’s Sheds: Men Helping Men

November 5, 2019 By Wendy Haaf goodtimes.ca

Published Books by Barry Golding

For those who want a deep dive, there are two books edited by Barry Golding.

Each is over 400 pages long.

We know of no other source more complete or authoritative.

Evidence Based Research on Men's Shed effectiveness (Australia)

Formal intergenerational mentoring at Australian Men’s Sheds: a targeted survey about mentees, mentors, programmes and quality

Over 1000 Men’s Sheds operate in Australia with 39% providing some form of mentoring mainly to youth. Yet, little is known about the variables intrinsic to creating and running quality programmes. This study aimed to identify the characteristics of formal intergenerational mentoring programmes, review their quality against the Australian Youth Mentoring Network (AYMN) quality benchmarks, and identify the
factors that predict quality in these programmes.

Informing health promotion in rural men’s sheds

Examination of participant health status, concerns, interests, knowledge and behaviours to ensure that health promotion activities offered to men in sheds are appropriate and effective, it is important to better understand the health status, concerns, knowledge and health-seeking behaviours of shed members as well as their preferences for garnering health-related information.

Community-based Men’s Sheds: promoting male health, wellbeing and social inclusion in an international context

Males experience greater mortality and morbidity than females in most Western countries. The Australian and Irish National Male Health Policies aim to develop a framework to address this gendered health disparity. Men’s Sheds have a distinct community development philosophy and are thus identified in both policies as an ideal location to address social isolation and positively impact the health and wellbeing of males who attend. The aim of this international cross-sectional survey was to gather information about Men’s Sheds, the people who attend Men’s Sheds, the activities at Men’s Sheds, and the social and health dimensions of Men’s Sheds.

Results demonstrate that Men’s Sheds are contributing a dual health and social role for a range of male subgroups. In particular, Men’s Sheds have an outward social focus, sup- porting the social and mental health needs of men; health promotion and health literacy are key features of Men’s Sheds. Men’s Sheds have an important role to play in addressing the gendered health disparity that males face. They serve as an exemplar to health promotion professionals of a community development context where the aims of male health policy can be actualized as one part of a wider suite of global initiatives to reduce the gendered health disparity.

Key words: men’s health promotion; health literacy; preventative health care; masculinity; participation; social inclusion

A narrative review of Men’s Sheds literature: reducing social isolation and promoting men’s health and well-being

Men’s Sheds are community-based organizations that typically provide a space for older men to participate in meaningful occupation such as woodwork. Men’s Sheds are considered an exemplar for the promotion of men’s health and well-being by health and social policy-makers. The objective of this literature review was to determine the state of the science about the potential for Men’s Sheds to promote male health and well-being.

Between October 2011 and February 2012, we conducted searches of databases, the grey literature and manual searches of websites and reference lists. In total, we found 5 reports and 19 articles about Men’s Sheds. The majority of the literature has emanated from Australian academics and is about older men’s learning in community contexts. There is a limited body of research literature about Men’s Sheds; the literature consists of either descriptive surveys or small qualitative studies. The range of variables that might contribute towards best practice in Men’s Sheds has not yet been adequately conceptualized, measured, tested or understood.

Future research should be focussed on the health and well-being benefits of Men’s Sheds; it needs to incorporate social determinants of health and well-being within the study designs to enable comparison against other health promotion research. Without this research focus, there is a danger that the potential health and well-being benefits of Men’s Sheds as supportive and socially inclusive environments for health will not be incorporated into future male health policy and practice.

Keywords: disability, masculinity, meaningful occupation, mentoring, men’s health and well-being, social inclusion

Men’s Sheds function and philosophy: towards a framework for future research and men’s health promotion

Issue addressed: The Men’s Shed movement supports a range of men’s health promotion initiatives. This paper examines whether a Men’s Shed typology could inform future research and enable more efficient and targeted health promotion activities through Men’s Sheds.

Methods: The International Men’s Shed Survey consisted of a cross-sectional exploration of sheds, their members, and health and social activities. Survey data about shed ‘function’ and ‘philosophy’ were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: A framework of Men’s Sheds based on function and philosophy demonstrated that most sheds serve a primary utility function, a secondary social function, but most importantly a primary social opportunity philosophy. Sheds with a primary health philosophy participated in fewer health promotion activities when compared with sheds without a primary health philosophy. Conclusions: In addition to the uniform health promotion resources distributed by the Men’s Shed associations, specific health promotion activities, such as prostate education, are being initiated from an individual shed level. This framework can potentially be used to enable future research and health promotion activities to be more efficiently and effectively targeted.

So what? Men experience poorer health and well being outcomes than women. This framework offers a novel approach to providing targeted health promotion activities to men in an environment where it is okay to talk about men’s health.

Key words: men’s health promotion, masculinity, social inclusion.

Intergenerational mentoring at Men’s Sheds: A feasibility study

Background: This study reports on the feasibility of an intergenerational mentoring programme for youth with intellectual disability (ID) aimed at developing skills and building networks.

Methods: Youth with ID were paired with older male mentors who were trained to support the mentees participate in activities and social interactions during weekly ses- sions. We interviewed the mentees and mentors, and assessed them on a range of outcomes using standardized measures.

Results: Interviews highlighted that the programme presented a great “opportunity” for the mentees and mentors. The participants described facilitators and challenges to the acquisition of practical skills by mentees and the development of relationships between mentors and mentees, including communication, transportation and mentor training. The youth with ID had difficulty completing the self-report measures. Conclusions: Mentoring programmes are viable to support youth with ID during the transition to adulthood; however, refinement is required in the rollout out of a pilot intervention.

Key words: active support, employment, intellectual disability, Men’s Sheds, mentoring, social inclusion

Men’s Sheds and the experience of depression in older Australian men

Depression is a serious psycho-social illness that leads to lower quality of life and greater cardiovascular mortality in men. Depression is the combined presence of a depressive mood as well as loss of interest or pleasure for a prolonged period of time. Relevant to this article is the distinct difference in how depression presents across gendered lines; while the diagnosis of depression is doubled in women when compared to men, rates of suicide are significantly higher in men, with men over the age of 75 having the second highest suicide rate in Australia. These population statistics suggest that depression is likely under-diagnosed in men. This may be attributed to stereotypical views of masculinity and the reluctance of men to seek appropriate services. Further, there is a higher suicide rate for men from regional and remote areas which can be attributed to lower socioeconomic status, limited access to mental health services and differences in migrant composition.

© 2022 Kevin Ford

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