Recorded presentation

Marcos Nascimento, MA and Gary T. Barker, PhD. Instituto Promundo, Brazil, Rua México 31, Bloco D, sala 1502, CEP 20031-144, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 55-21-2544-3114, g.barker@promundo.org.br

Research has found that young men are less likely than young women to seek health services when they need them and less likely to be attuned to their own health needs. It is in this context that Promundo, in collaboration with the Center for Studies on Adolescent Health/ Rio de Janeiro State University, and the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Health Secretariat, with support from PAHO/WHO, has developed a project to improve access to and quality of health services for young men through research, strategy development, implementation and evaluation. The Project works in three low-income communities on two levels: on the supply side, it devises and implements strategies to make health services more attractive and appropriate for young men. This includes offering alternative hours, engaging young men as health promoters, conducting capacity-building workshops with health professionals and creating partnerships with local organizations; on the demand side, it concentrates on attracting young men to health services through communication strategies tailored to youth culture, such as graffiti-style murals on clinic walls. Initial results confirm that changing staff attitudes to welcome and accept young men is a major challenge. Additionally, a significant percentage of the young men come to the clinic with their mother; as a result materials were developed for parents. While the project focuses on young men, we have also engaged municipal health officials in rethinking men’s roles in health, fatherhood and other social roles. Finally, community-based partnerships have been essential to surmounting challenges and ensuring the sustainability of health promotion efforts.

Learning Objectives:

• 1-Identify strategies for making health services more attractive to young men
• 2-Identify strategies for increasing use of health services by young men

Keywords: Youth, Community-Oriented Primary Care

Related Web page: www.promundo.org.br

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.

Recorded presentation