Abstract
The American Public Health Association’s (APHA) Executive Board of Directors approved the creation of a Men’s Health Caucus (MHC) in January 2010. The MHC consists of a group of interprofessional health care and public health practitioners focused on improving men’s health. The vision of the MHC is to “improve the health and well-being of men and boys and their families in the United States through innovative policymaking, a challenging effort that seeks to eliminate the disparities that have set back the health of men and boys.” The mission of the MHC is “to bring together academic, healthcare providers, federal, state, and local health departments, and private and non-profit organizations with a common interest in improving the health and well-being of men, boys, and their families.” An additional purpose of the MHC is to increase APHA members’ awareness of the caucus’s goals and key issues in the United States. This caucus actively collaborates with two other national organizations to promote a consistent message and policy agenda regarding men’s health: Men’s Health Network and Women Against Prostate Cancer.
This MHC has outlined a national policy agenda for individuals engaged in health care, public health, medicine, health policy, advocacy, and education/academia. More information can be accessed at www.menshealthcaucus.net. The principles guiding the 2011-2012 Men’s Health Caucus National Policy Agenda focus on a balanced approach that considers health in terms of gender; addresses men’s health in a multidisciplinary effort; understands, practices, and institutionalizes ethnic, racial, and culturally sensitive guidelines for interacting and reaching out to men and boys; and holds governmental agencies, policy makers, and public health institutions accountable for the elimination of gender disparities. The priority focus areas for the National Policy Agenda are policy development, research, education and outreach, professional training, and access to health services. The national goals are the following: (a) strengthen national and state public health policies that aim to improve the health of men, boys, and their families; (b) advance men’s health–specific research initiatives that disseminate gender, age, and socioculturally appropriate information through suitable mediums; (c) develop greater health education outreach targeting men and their families; (d) ensure the development of a better-trained and more gender-competent U.S. public health workforce in the field of men’s health; and (e) promote strategies that ensure greater delivery and access of health services to men, boys, and their families.
I am calling all health care and public health professionals interested in the improvement of men’s health and decreasing the gender health disparities to review this national agenda, endorse this national agenda, advocate for the proposed goals outlined in the national agenda, and align your research, scholarship, and health care programs with the national policy agenda. This will provide a unified approach in influencing the gender health disparities in our country.