Becoming Men on Chicago’s South Side: Health Interventions for Men and Boys. As a part of the DHHS/OPA Male Involvement Initiative, two different programs are working to provide health and social services to adolescent and adult males living in high-risk neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side. The targeted communities, where life expectancy for males is 57 years, have high rates of HIV/AIDs and teenage childbearing. Poverty, school dropout and unemployment are high – which limits access to health care. The two southside programs have developed very different strategies for serving males in two age groups. Project Brotherhood, which serves adult men, has set aside one evening each week for a “Black Men’s Clinic” and surrounds the provision of medical services with social services, including a barber on-site and opportunities to talk with other men. Peer Advocates for Health has focused on intensively training a small group of adolescent males to serve as peer health advocates for other young men, both within and outside of the clinic setting. Although different in design, the two programs have confronted similar issues, ranging from the real or perceived “female focus” of health clinics to often unhealthy definitions of appropriate male attitudes and behavior. Participants on this panel will address: 1) the neediness of the male inner-city population; 2) program development for a population that is nearly “invisible” for much of the health and social service world; 3) strategies for attracting and retaining male program participants; and 4) men’s responses to services designed for them.
Learning Objectives: After this presentation, participants will be able to: 1. Understand barriers to accessing health services for males, and 2) Identify strategies for attracting and retaining male program participants.
Keywords: Male Health, Access to Health Care
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.