Context and project background

Men's health is a highly relevant topic for men and fathers. Men focus much less on their own health care than women, they lead riskier lives, eat more unhealthily and are exposed to a higher risk of suicide.  At the same time, we have realised that there are still far too few offers in this area. In particular, we believe that health information programmes, which form the basis for health literacy, need to be expanded. In our view, there is a great need for an independent programme aimed specifically at boys, men and fathers. This service should focus on the area of psychosocial health, as defined in the WHO Ottawa Charter.

The Exchange project "Health information for men and especially fathers on the Internet" is also based on the fact that, as organisations that work with men and fathers in particular, we are increasingly communicating with our clients via our websites. This is due to several factors:

• Our clients generally like to find information on the internet about topics that interest them.
• Our clients generally tend to use the strategy of helping themselves first when problems arise and therefore also obtain health information on their own initiative.
• Our clients want to obtain the health information they need when they have time to do so. This is often at the weekend, when our journal services are usually not available.
• Our clients value discretion and therefore turn to the internet as a source of health information.

We see the problem with this strategy of obtaining health information in several dimensions:

• Many websites that offer health information for men and fathers are commercially orientated and therefore do not offer neutral information.
• Many websites that offer health information for men and fathers do not offer the possibility of contacting organisations that provide expert advice.

As organisations that offer counselling and support for men and fathers, we would like to work on the challenges of providing health information for men and fathers as part of this Exchange project. Challenges associated with the preparation of health information for men and fathers on our websites. This includes the following topics:

• Increasing health literacy[1]
• Reliability of the information
• Client-orientated preparation
• User-friendliness
• Resources required
• Contact options to specialists
• Accessibility

Aim of the project

The project has four objectives:

• We improve the quality of our work through a professional exchange on our professional concepts for health information for men and fathers.
• We improve our health information for men and fathers on our websites.
• We develop an overview catalogue of necessary measures based on the topics mentioned and the associated resources required for the expansion of health information for men and fathers on our websites.
• We are developing a network in which the basis has been created through the joint work on this project. This will enable us to develop a follow-up project that will create intellectual output on our burning issues.

Activities and methods

A steering group responsible for monitoring will be set up. This is made up of representatives from all participating organisations.

Each participating organisation will host a meeting for a professional exchange.

Expected results

Based on the objectives and the associated participants and measures, we expect the following results

1. Gaining knowledge about the necessary conditions for expanding health information for men and fathers on our websites (catalogue of measures and associated necessary resources).
2. Sharpening of the specific health information services for men and fathers on our websites
3. Basic quality criteria for health information for men and fathers on our websites
4. Establishment of an international network for co-operation

Long-term benefits

In addition to improving the quality of our training courses, we see the establishment of a sustainable network for future collaborations as a long-term result. These should serve to realise projects with an intellectual output.

Funding

For financial support, we want to apply for funding from the EU's Erasmus+ programme as a strategic partnership in the field of adult education. This essentially covers travel costs and a lump sum for organisational costs, but cannot finance any actual personnel costs. There are also no room costs: it is assumed that the meetings will be hosted by one of the partners. However, the grant can provide considerable support for regular meetings.

Time frame

The project runs from 01.10.2020 to 31.09.2022 (24 months).

Perspective

Subsequently, a "Strategic Partnership to Support Innovation" could be developed from the joint focal points that emerge from the exchange. There is considerably more funding for this, including personnel costs. The aim is to publish intellectual outputs; this could also be the transfer of best practices from one country to the other partner countries. Based on current ideas, this could be, for example, the development of a joint web portal for men's health in German-speaking countries, or joint quality standards for the content of corresponding programmes.

Domestic violence, in particular the murder of women in Austria, is a very urgent and serious problem that occurs periodically. The Dachverband Männerarbeit Österreich sees it as its duty to tackle this problem with all its expertise and professionalism. Here, hegemonic male social relations and, as their real manifestation, violence-orientated masculinities are seen as the main justifying factor for the use of domestic violence by men against people in their social environment (e.g. partners, children).

The Ministry of Social Affairs has recognised the need in this area and supports the DMÖ's violence prevention counselling for men. These projects are categorised as primary violence prevention. The aim is to create a range of men's counselling services throughout Austria that reach men at a low-threshold level and at an early stage in order to prevent escalating conflicts, violent developments and behaviour that endangers others and themselves. The aim of the funding programme is to ensure that counselling options for men are as easily accessible as possible in all federal states.

Men's counselling is professional psychosocial counselling in individual or group settings, which is aimed at men and male adolescents and covers a wide range of topics (health, partnership, sexuality, victim experiences, work, professional problems, social isolation and problem situations, family problems, partnership conflicts, separation, divorce, custody, violent behaviour within and outside the family, etc.).

Violence prevention is also a field of work for many institutions organised in the DMÖ. Violence prevention can take place prior to acts of violence and prevent violence from occurring in the first place (primary prevention); in this context, activities that promote identities and self-concepts in which destructive and violence-affine components are unlikely to occur can be regarded as violence prevention. Particular attention must be paid to target groups that are otherwise difficult to reach, for example due to social disadvantage, language barriers or residential location (e.g. in rural areas). Low-threshold is therefore a key criterion for reaching these target groups in particular.

Men's counselling, which aims to ensure that critical situations such as separation, divorce, custody conflicts etc. are handled in a constructive and de-escalating manner, fulfils a primary violence prevention function in a special sense. Such situations often form the context in which men's violent behaviour occurs. Men's counselling in an anonymous and confidential setting is the appropriate violence prevention approach in this context.

Against this background, the services offered by the members of the DMÖ as part of this project focus on primary prevention and thus on violence-preventive (and low-threshold) counselling for men.

Gender-sensitive work with boys and lads is an important and essential tool in the prevention of violence. In Austria, there are very well qualified specialists, institutions and organisations for this purpose. In the workshops with boys and lads, violence-promoting and hegemonic images of masculinity are addressed and worked on together with the boys. There is still a lot of pressure in male peer groups to follow certain "toxic" images of masculinity in order to gain recognition among their peers. In many ways, these images of masculinity contain attitudes that promote violence, for example by concealing and suppressing feelings associated with weakness or unmanliness, or the real and/or symbolic staging of male superiority over women and girls (as well as over boys and men who cannot or do not want to conform to hegemonic images of masculinity).

In the everyday practice of many men, the fantasised and real social position of power is expressed by attacking women or devalued forms of masculinity in words and/or actions, violating boundaries, sexual assault, etc. Clarifying what and how violence - especially in its references to women - can be named, how this violence occurs in reality, etc., is the basis for raising awareness of the boys'/boys' own behaviour. As much as these images of men are in a state of flux, it is nevertheless necessary to reflect on and emphasise anew that dominant behaviour and images of men that dominate and determine women are in urgent need of change - as are social structures that perpetuate the oppression and discrimination of women.

In the joint work with the boys and lads, the aim is to make it possible to experience and discuss these harmful effects of masculinity stereotypes and to develop emancipatory and equality-orientated images of being a boy/boy/man in the workshops. The consideration of low-threshold approaches, intersectional and transcultural approaches is one of the cross-cutting issues and competences here in order to also reach groups that develop violent 'protest masculinities' as a reaction to marginalisation. At the same time, experience shows that boys/boys also report their own experiences of violence in the family in the workshops. This means that there is always a direct preventative connection in the area of violence against women. Where possible, cooperation is also sought with girls' and women's work and with victim protection organisations.

The funds budgeted in the project "Violence-preventing work with boys and lads" are intended to ensure that the expertise from the work with men/boys has a broad impact. Boys/boys should learn to deal with negative feelings without violence, recognise forms of violence and develop a clear stance against violence against women (and men too, of course). The range of measures should be adapted to local circumstances, target groups and current needs and can range from workshops and peer programmes to participatory projects. If necessary, individual discussions and counselling for boys can also take place.

The measures that comprise violence prevention work with boys are diverse in this area and can include the following:

• School workshops on violence prevention
• School work with boys (social work, boys' lessons, etc.)
• Violence prevention workshops outside of school
• Work with refugee boys in institutions
• Counselling services for violence prevention (young people, parents, caregivers)
• Preventive anti-violence work for boys in an ongoing group setting at a men's counselling centre
• Group work with boys whose mothers are in women's refuges
• Journal service for young people (counselling for boys)
• Low-threshold counselling for boys via Instagram and messenger services
• Individual counselling for boys
• And much more.