BC Alliance for Healthy Living

Category: Working on Wellness

  • A Literature Review of Men’s Health Interventions: Strategic Considerations

    A Literature Review of Men’s Health Interventions: Strategic Considerations

    This brief scoping review was conducted for the Working on Wellness (WoW) in Strategic Populations Initiative. WoW is a partnership effort aimed at reducing preventable cancers and other chronic diseases through promotion of overall wellness and healthy choices in the workplace.

    The review synthesized literature on effective health intervention considerations, particularly focusing on communication strategies, to better reach primary male dominated workplaces. Topics related to chronic disease and associated risk factors (tobacco use, inactivity, unhealthy eating and obesity) were examined.

    Download A Literature Review of Men’s Health Interventions: Strategic Considerations here.

  • Dads taking care of business – by quitting smoking!

    Dads taking care of business – by quitting smoking!

    National Non-Smoking Week is a great time to start up a conversation with the smokers in our lives. There are so many options these days for those who are ready to Quit Now or who are even just getting ready to think about quitting.

    If you know a new dad who also smokes, you might want to send him to Dads in Gear (DiG) or Men’s Quit Now. Out of the men who participated in the first two DiG pilot groups – 65% were able to quit smoking, even three months later. That’s an amazing rate compared to 10% who quit successfully on their own.

    The secret to the success of the Dads in Gear Program is:

    • Support,
    • An emphasis on new activities, and
    • Targeted messaging on smoking and how to stop, but also about how men can work on being good dads and take care of themselves as well as their little ones.

    The program is led by two pioneers in men’s health in BC – Dr. Joan Bottorff and Dr. John Oliffe. They provided an update on the Dads in Gear project in a recent Quit Now webinar on leveraging masculinities to promote quitting. Dads in Gear brings new fathers together to talk about family, fatherhood and how quitting smoking can help them be better dads and partners.

    The lone, tough Marlboro Man is one image of masculinity, but working in men’s health promotion shows that image is out of focus. Men can’t be limited by that stereotype, they’re people who both provide support and need support in turn. By addressing men’s health in terms of the realities of their lives and relationships, we can engage men in a more meaningful conversation about their health – on their own terms.

    But rather than taking my word for it, take a listen to some of the dads who took part in DiG. They’re the real inspiration for National Non-Smoking Week.

  • How does Men’s Health Work?

    How does Men’s Health Work?

    When it comes to expectations for a healthy long life, men are falling behind women. There are many reasons for this. Many men avoid seeing the doctor unless something is broken, bleeding or seriously wrong. In health promotion we do a better job of reaching women than men but this is a gap we’re trying to bridge.

    BCAHL, along with colleagues from the Centre of Excellence in Cancer Prevention at UBC, hosted a workshop series, Men’s Health Works to share BC’s successes and challenges in reaching out to men.

    • Our Vancouver event brought together 100 people from a range of different fields to hear about the progress BC has made in talking to men about their health.
    • In Prince George we gathered over 50 stakeholders from public health, First Nations and the academia to participate in a lively discussion around the issues.

    We included Canadian experts on men’s health and wellness, leaders in northern and Aboriginal health, as well as practitioners in men’s health promotion.

    Why the focus on men’s health? Because Canadian men are less healthy overall and less likely to engage in healthy behaviours. For example, women make up the vast majority of participants in workplace wellness programs – even in male-dominated workplaces.

    Our Working on Wellness (WoW) project is trying to reach men in BC and the NWT through their workplaces – and it’s getting noticed. The messaging in these remote work camps is different from your typical public health announcements – asking men to “Take Care of Their Equipment – Like their Heart and Arteries”.

    BC is leading the charge on men’s health promotion. Perhaps because of the work started by former Chief Medical Health Officer David Bowering, who asked “Where are the Men?”

    If you didn’t make it to either event, you can still take part and follow-up with any questions you may have.

    Below are the archived webcast, slides, and other resources from the Vancouver and Prince George workshops at http://bit.ly/workingonwellness.

    We hope by posting these materials that these workshops will spur on a larger discussion beyond those who were able to attend.

    Please check back as we will be adding more material as it becomes available.

    Webcast from Prince George Workshop (June 8, 2015)
    https://youtu.be/kRm93tyijRc (Opening plenary by Dr. David Bowering and panel discussion)

    Presentation Slides
    Presentation slides – Dr. David Bowering
    Presentation slides – Dr. Joan Bottorff, Sally Errey, and Kerensa Medhurst
    Presentation slides – Holly Christian and Trevor Kehoe
    Presentation slides – Drs. John Oliffe and Joan Bottorff
    Presentation slides – Samantha Hartley-Folz and Fionna Blackman

    Resources
    BC Alliance for Healthy Living, Working on Wellness

    Policies to Support Health Promotion in the Workplace – What’s There and What’s Needed (report)
    Men’s Health Interventions: Strategic Considerations (report)

    Canadian Men’s Health Foundation http://menshealthfoundation.ca/
    Don’t Change Much campaign http://dontchangemuch.ca/

    Northern Health Authority
    Where are the Men? (Report)
    Men’s Health Matters Because Men Matter (report)
    Rebuilding Strength: First Nations Men’s Health in Northern BC (report)
    Supporting document for Rebuilding Strength: First Nations Men’s Health in Northern BC
    QuitNow Men website http://men.quitnow.ca/

    If you’d like more information about Working on Wellness (WoW), POWERPLAY, or WellnessFits, please contact:

    Working on Wellness (WoW)
    info@bchealthyliving.ca
    www.bchealthyliving.ca/what-we-do/working-on-wellness/

    POWERPLAY
    Joan L. Bottorff, PhD, RN, FCAHS, FAAN
    Professor, School of Nursing, UBC Faculty of Health and Social Development
    Director, Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention
    joan.bottorff@ubc.ca
    www.harmonization.ok.ubc.ca

    WellnessFits
    Canadian Cancer Society, BC and Yukon Division
    604-675-7143

  • Men’s Health – Is More Than Growing a ‘Mo!

    Men’s Health – Is More Than Growing a ‘Mo!

    I don’t know about you, but I always have a hard time deciding how to acknowledge Father’s Day properly, both for my husband and my own dad. Neither of them are traditional ‘guy’ guys, so golf clubs and soap-on-a-rope don’t appeal. But in another way they both fit into a male stereotype that might have some truth to it.

    Like many men, they avoid seeing the doctor unless something is broken, bleeding or seriously wrong. My husband sees chips as a food group (something he’s passed onto our son) and he grew a ‘mo for two years before he figured he needed to take a look at his own health.

    His choices as an individual are reflective of men in general. And unfortunately, when it comes to expecting a healthy long life, men are falling behind women. There are many reasons for this. In health promotion we do a better job of reaching women than men but this is a gap we’re trying to bridge.

    Northern Health, PowerPlay and the Working on Wellness project are trying to reach men before they hit the ER, in communities and workplaces.

    BC is leading the charge on men’s health promotion. Perhaps because of the work of former Chief Medical Health Officer David Bowering, who asked Northern Health “Where are the Men?” which really started conversations in communities.

    The BC Alliance for Healthy Living, along with the Centre of Excellence in Cancer Prevention want to share the successes and challenges in reaching out to men. They are hosting a workshop series entitled Men’s Health Works in Prince George on June 8th (just ahead of Father’s Day!) – and there are still a few spaces available.

    But if you’re not in Prince George, live webcasts will be available as well. If men aren’t heading to their doctors before they experience health problems, then we need to go where they are. Whether in the community or the workplace our health matters, men’s health matters.

    So, maybe a more valuable gift for the men in our lives is good health rather than another soap-on-a-rope. This Father’s Day, I’m planning salmon and grilled veggies on the BBQ after an afternoon at the park. How would you start the conversation on health with the men in your life?

     

  • Policies to Support Health Promotion in the Workplace – What’s There and What’s Needed

    Policies to Support Health Promotion in the Workplace – What’s There and What’s Needed

    BC Alliance for Healthy Living and WoW want to better understand the current policy landscape on workplace wellness in BC, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Many workplace wellness policies and programs are designed with the urban, office worker in mind; and the best practices and policies developed reflect that population.

    We know that there are gaps that need to be filled, but specifically we wanted to know – What are the legislative, regulatory and ‘grey’ policies in place to support workplace wellness? Where are the gaps that need to be filled? What questions can our pilots answer?

    It is our hope that over the next two years, some of the gaps concerning rural and remote workplaces will be filled, and that the lessons from WoW can be shared broadly to support future work in this area.

    Check out Policies to Support Health Promotion in the Workplace – a review and see what we found to date.

  • BC Alliance for Healthy Living Leads $2.3M Initiative to Put the WoW! in Workplace Wellness

    BC Alliance for Healthy Living Leads $2.3M Initiative to Put the WoW! in Workplace Wellness

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

    April 9, 2014 (Vancouver) – The BC Alliance for Healthy Living (BCAHL) has launched a three-year $2.3 million initiative to take workplace wellness lessons from BC and share them with our neighbours to the north. The Working on Wellness in Strategic Populations or WoW initiative is made possible through financial support from the Canadian Partnership against Cancer, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and Health Canada, which was announced today in Ottawa.

    Building on the success of the Canadian Cancer Society’s WellnessFits program – the WoW initiative will adapt and deliver tailored workplace wellness programs to rural and remote worksites, which have statistically poorer health outcomes. Canadian Cancer Society, BC & Yukon, Council of Yukon First Nations and Government of Northwest Territories will be piloting the adapted program.

    “BC is a leader in health promotion, but as with other jurisdictions, we have trouble reaching certain groups of people. The WoW funding will allow us to go into industrial work camps in BC and the Northwest Territories, and First Nations administration offices in the Yukon Territory to see how we can target our activities and language to better meet people’s needs.” said Scott McDonald, BCAHL Chair and CEO of the BC Lung Association.

    Male and First Nations health outcomes are below the national and BC averages. Workplace wellness is considered a promising practice in health promotion and the WoW initiative will test its applicability for underserved populations.

    “How do we talk to men about health when they may not want to listen? How do we convince employers to take steps to support the health of their employees? These are important questions that we hope to answer and share through the WoW initiative over the next three years,” adds McDonald.

    “If there’s one lesson BCAHL has learned over its ten years working together, it’s the value of leveraging partnerships. Health happens where people live, work, play and learn so we need the private sector to be actively involved.  We are very excited about this pan-Canadian work and our current and future partners,” said Mary Collins, Director of the BCAHL Secretariat.

    Other BC-based partners include the UBC-CCS Cancer Prevention Centre, Iridia Medical, a private sector health company, BC Ministry of Health, WorkSafe BC, and the CMHA who are members of the initiative’s policy advisory committee.  The key to Coalitions Linking Action and Science for Prevention or CLASP coalitions is the marriage of the policy, practice and research sectors.

    “The WoW initiative is one of eight projects the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer is funding through its Coalitions Linking Action and Science for Prevention (CLASP) initiative to create a more supportive environment so individuals can make the healthier choice,” said Deb Keen, Director, Prevention and Research at the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. “This coordinated approach accelerates the use of knowledge and best practices to ultimately improve the health of Canadians.”

  • Workplace Wellness Works!

    Thank you to all those who attended our June Webinar: Workplace Wellness Works! Celebrating a Healthy Worksite.

    The BC Alliance for Healthy Living hosted a province-wide forum on healthy workplaces. Speakers shared their experience working with BC workplaces to improve health. The presentations included tips and tools available to make our workplaces better and healthier and are available now on-line. The first presentation from the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), featured their Wellness Fits program.

    Taking over from CCS’s Sharon Storoschuk and Kate Carty was Brandon Grant. Brandon’s presentation profiled the Northern Health’s Men’s Health Initiative.

    We know from follow up surveys that the presentations and subject matter were well received, and hope that you will join us this coming Fall for our next session.

    For more information on our June presenters and their programs, read below.

    SHARON STOROSCHUK is the Director Health Promotion Canadian Cancer Society BC & Yukon (CCS). Sharon has a Master’s of Public Health degree and over 20 years of experience in health promotion, evaluation and research. Sharon is responsible for overseeing CCS’s provincial Prevention Strategy for cancer.

    KATE CARTY is the Project Manager for WellnessFits at the Canadian Cancer Society BC & Yukon Division. Kate has a Master’s degree in Kinesiology and over 20 years of experience in health services planning, project management and health-related research and evaluation.

    BRANDON GRANT is the Men’s Health Initiative Program Coordinator for Northern Health. He has worked in Dawson Creek at the Nawican Friendship Centre, initially as the Youth Program Coordinator and eventually as the Executive Director. In 2008, he moved to Prince George to pursue a Master’s Degree in Social Work, after which he worked with the Community Partners Addressing Homelessness (CPAH) and was employed by the Northern Family Health Society as a Community Support Key Worker. After completing his MPA in June, 2011, he joined Northern Health. Since joining Northern Health, Brandon has been able to travel across the northern health region speaking with community members about men’s health.

    Programs Profiled:

    WellnessFits

    The Canadian Cancer Society, BC and Yukon Division, in partnership with Healthy Families BC recently launched WellnessFits – a free comprehensive workplace wellness program designed to address the different needs of small, medium and large businesses with two flexible program options.

    Building on the learning and initial investment of the BC Alliance for Healthy Living’s Tobacco-free Workplace Initiative, WellnessFits is a comprehensive program that addresses key behaviours in the workplace including healthy eating, physical activity, healthy minds and being tobacco-free in order to reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. In addition, WellnessFits offers free online, email and telephone support, or on-site consultations to help businesses get started.

    WellnessFitsPresentation

    Northern Health Men’s Health Initiative

    The Men’s Health program was created by Northern Health in response to the Chief Medical Health Officer’s November 2010 report “Where are the Men?” This report outlined a number of health challenges for men living in northern BC including:

    • Higher rates of cancer, suicide, occupational deaths, and chronic disease
    • And lower access rates of health care

    To address this issue, Northern Health has made Men’s Health a focus area by creating a program to improve the health outcomes of men living in the North. This commitment is closely aligned with Northern Health’s pillars of integrated health services with a population health approach outlined in their Strategic Plan. In the spring of 2011, Men’s Health was identified as the focus of Northern Health’s community consultation.

    Download Brandon’s presentation here.