Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter
Send news

Recent news

News tags

mental health  physical activity  earthquake  vacancies  families  public health  children  funding  poverty  health determinants  social  Community development  planning  employment  healthy cities  volunteers  newsletter  youth  volunteering  nutrition  employment opportunity  housing  alcohol and drugs  maori  community engagement  rebuilding  wellbeing  disabilities  Lectures  counselling  Training  earthquake recovery  sustainability  event  community gardens  Community  seminar  Awards  stress  Community Groups  mens health  research  arts  smokefree  culture  men  exercise  migrants  community event  education  environment  resilience  human rights  health  medical  business  sport  conferences  survey  mental wellbeing  Courses  obesity  elderly  support group  environmental health  healthy food  health promotion  violence  pacific health  resources  rebuild  women  race relations  meeting  gardens  workshop  services  leadership  forum  water  disabled  repair  transport  prevention  pacific  dance  fundraising  asian health  sexual health  inequality  cancer  support  disasters  development  mindfulness  dementia  presentation  collaboration  health in all policies  data analysis  recovery  smoking  law  drugs and alcohol  technology  safety  cycling  Sleep  policy  parenting  media  hearing  walking  land  neighbours  social justice  qualification  resilient cities  information  community connection  consultation  oral health  bullying  depression  youth empowerment  young people  activities  non-profit  charity  harm  NURSES  addiction  disease  Communication  alcohol  symposium  submission  anxiety  accessibility  Relationships  eating  economics  Advocacy  eLearning  falls  parking  energy  efficiency  heating  insulation  advice  Eating Disorders  abuse  waste  Matariki  webinar  diabetes  workplace  Film  Climate Change  solutions  urban  management  economy  plan  restoration  Report  Vulnerability  welfare  parks  learning  awareness  emergencies  legislation  injury prevention  reading  Meeting Room  conservation  language  refugees  recreation  built environment  data  venue  urban design  Food  older people  finances  suicide  heritage  gender  recycling  breastfeeding  public  identity  Nursing  submissions  Rainbow  biodiversity  campaign  promotion  Gut Health  diversity  therapy  older adults  sexuality  computing  pollution  School Holidays  Arts Therapy  providers  gambling  Maori health  Cervical cancer  screening  trauma  autism  Governance  treaty of waitangi  care  mentoring  pets  relaxation  Professional Development  pornography  exhibition  history  discrimination  vaping  equity  lockdown  grief  rural  hygiene  participation  tourism  summer  intervention  warning  podcast  science  petition  swimming  roadworks  traffic  wildlife  beaches  pools  immunisation  vaccination  brain  preparation  open day  market  evaluation  noise  music  property  testing  crafts  CALD  cultural diversity  camping  creativity  climate action  community events  road safety  library  Hornby  skills  placemaking  regenerative communities  journey  reflection  regional council  councillors  water management  emergency management  retirement  stress management  Christmas  family  festival  alcohol harm  waterways  planting  health protection  legionnaire's disease  hepatitis  heatwaves  water safety  fishing  gardening  workshops  stormwater  biosecurity  volunteer  plant and animal pest management  politics  faith  crime 

Reports on what Canterbury men need from support services

Wednesday, December 9, 2020   Posted in: Resources and Information By: Administrator With tags: research, men, services, mens health, Report, survey

The Canterbury Men's Centre (CMC) went through significant growth again in the past year and with this came some reflection about the work we do and how to do it better. These three reports evolved out of our genuine curiosity over the past 12 months, with those on our mailing list supplying much of the data.

Thanks to those of you that engaged with our surveys. CMC hope your reflections are honoured in the outcomes or suggestions of the reports and that those are useful to you in turn.

Hatched matched and Dispatched: What do Canterbury Dads Need? (April 2020)

The CMC changed direction on its previous work with dads toward a peer based approach. So they were seeking your thoughts about what gap they could best fill and what the community perceptions were of the needs of their dads.

Read the Hatched Matched and Dispatched: What do Canterbury Dads Need report [PDF].

The suggestions are broken down into the following categories:

  1. The New Baby Years “Hatched”
  2. The Relationship Years: “Matched”
  3. The Ending/Separation Years: “Dispatched”

The requests and suggestions were very large in scale. A nice challenge for the CMC and other groups in Canterbury that are responsible for the wellbeing of dads and whanau.

Supporting Canterbury Men in Post-COVID Times (October 2020)

With the initial challenges of the pandemic response having been engaged, CMC sought the thoughts of those on their mailing list about where men in the community are at, and how they are dealing with the current challenges.

Read the Supporting Canterbury Men in Post-COVID Times report [PDF].

This report provided a number of suggestions that were helpful to the CMC strategy later in November 2020 with those including:

  1. Continue with Blokes Books to address the lack of community knowledge about addressing men’s wellbeing needs
  2. Use "Male Call" and other means to inform stakeholders and carers in Canterbury about support for men as well as how to support men
  3. Continue with our counselling and scale it up
  4. Canterbury outside Christchurch was dealing with its own challenges and could use our help
  5. The CMC has a special role in helping men build skills to reduce isolation amongst them. This is something that we have taken quite seriously as an additional responsibility and incorporated it into our strategic plan (the other e already had a place on our plan).

Mid and South Canterbury Scoping Report (October 2020)

CMC's scan of the needs of men in Canterbury inspired a deeper look into the needs of men in Mid and South Canterbury, with this having been a commitment pushed back by the pandemic.

Read the Mid and South Canterbury Scoping report [PDF].

The CMC CEO received a very warm welcome from local stakeholders, leaders of community groups and those who had done some good work with men in the region or were aspiring to do so. 

Recommendations from the report include:

  • More exploration of this issue
    We were encouraged to consult a number of other stakeholders, and see this initial engagement as only a very first step. We know that while the CMC has a role to play it is the community proper that will make something useful happen.
  • Make Moderate Effort to inspire more counsellors in the region
    There are careers in this area, with this having both economic and social benefits. None of the stakeholders we consulted expressed an interest in doing this. While they saw it as useful to their region they were hesitant.
    We had a similar experience in Christchurch where we identified a need for a particular kind of counsellor but the main service engaged in that kind of counselling said they didn’t want to promote it as a career pathway, fearing that the wrong people would be steered toward the work.
  • More Exploration but with the aim of Forming a Working Party to form a Men’s Centre/Service in the region
    A number of the options above were supported but not seen as something those stakeholders interviewed thought of as their area of focus. Similarly, the CMC experienced many well-wishers for the work to be done, but few that felt it their responsibility to accomplish this. There is a call for such a service if the right people engage in it.