Community-Engaged Research Project: Cambridge

Project Title

The Men's Health League: A Community Health Partnership for Men

Funded by

The National Office of Minority Health (OMH)

Project Period

September 1, 2007 – August 31, 2010

Project description

What did you set out to do?

The main goal of this community-based participatory research (CBPR) project is to help improve health knowledge of adult men of color in Cambridge, MA. This project is an interventional study that assigns individuals to receive specific interventions. Individuals are tracked and health outcomes are assessed. In this project, the planned intervention targets are:

• Physical activity
• Nutritional habits
• Healthcare usage

There are four parts to the intervention:

1. The Men's Health Team, a grassroots health leadership program
2. Fitness Brothers, a program designed to give social support to promote physical activity.
3. Fit for Life, behavioral change support to promote physical activity.
4. Navigated Care, a part of the project plan to improve access to healthcare and follow-up appointments.

In addition, the project reaches men of color through many outreach activities. The outreach targets people who support health projects in the local neighborhoods. During the project, the program participants help plan, collect and analyze the data.

What did you find?

The Men's Health League is a promising way to address health issues through prevention, intervention and outreach activities. This program has achieved many key successes. There are over 250 men in the program that are in structured and flexible exercise interventions and community education. This project has developed as a model that has the potential to be adopted by any community. Early results from the project show that the participants are satisfied with the program. Participants show improved knowledge, attitudes and behavior change. The partnership has learned that this collaboration can successfully address men's health disparities in a community like Cambridge, MA. Finally, we have learned that in projects like this, it is critical for partner organizations to focus on:

• Developing good communication between and within organizations and partners
• Learning and using the strengths that each organization brings to the partnership

What have you done/are you planning to do with your findings?

We expect the Men's Health League project to provide the groundwork for how to engage with different organizations around health issues. Issues related to men's health, as well as broader issues related health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities. A focus on men's health in Cambridge, MA may lead to important policy or practice changes within the partner organizations. These findings may help health & social service agencies learn how to better serve the community. Program staff has been invited to serve on a national network for men's health. This has given them the chance to share some of the effective ways for engaging men in wellness promotion activities.

How did you report your outcomes?

Data from this project is being handed out on local, state and national levels. The information is shared through presentations, evaluation reports and academic articles. The partners have presented The Men's Health League project at many conferences including:

• The American Public Health Association
• The National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities
• The Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Ounce of Prevention 2009 Facing the Future: Healthy People, Places, and Policies workshop

Also, the data are shared with program participants, program staff and interested members from the local advisory group.

Collaborators and affiliations

The Men's Health League (MHL) project is a partnership between:

• The Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House (MFNH), a small community based non-profit organization
• The Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), a regional healthcare entity
• The Cambridge Family YMCA, a health and fitness community non-profit
• The Cambridge Public Health Department (CPHD), a part of the CHA and serves as the administrative lead for the project
• The Institute for Community Health (ICH), which provides research and evaluation expertise and capacity building to the three community partners in this project

For more information

For more information about the Men's Health League program, please contact Albert Pless, MS Program Manager, Cambridge Public Health Department / Cambridge Health Alliance (apless@challiance.org).

Website: http://www.cambridgepublichealth.org/

For more information about the Men's Health League evaluation, please contact Shalini A. Tendulkar, ScD Research Associate, Institute for Community Health / Cambridge Health Alliance (stendulkar@challiance.org).

Website: http://www.icommunityhealth.org/