Tennessee Men's Health Report Card: Lessons Learned and Implications

In most of the states in the United States, there is not a systematic or coordinated strategy for monitoring men’s health or assessing men’s health disparities.  Beginning in 2009, and biennially since, the Tennessee Department of Health, Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Tennessee Men’s Health Network, health providers and advocates across the state have come together to publish a set of health outcome, health behavior, and socio-economic indicators as the Tennessee Men’s Health Report Card.  In this presentation, we will describe the 2014 Tennessee Men’s Health Report Card data, launch events and other resources used to raise awareness of the need to focus on men’s health and to share strategies that were happening across the state to improve men’s health.  The report card findings highlight statistically significant changes in trends over time, quantify racial, ethnic, age and geographic disparities among men, highlight connections to regional and statewide public health initiatives, and suggest priorities for improving men’s health in Tennessee.  State data points were compared to Healthy People 2020 Objectives and graded based on the degree of discrepancy between the goal and the current reality for Tennessee men.  This version of the report card also was launched at regional events across the state to highlight the need and create the opportunity for local stakeholders to discuss what the face of men’s health looked like in their area.  The Tennessee Men’s Health Report Card is a useful model that other states, and the nation, could use to characterize, monitor and address the health needs of men.