Formal health services in informal settings: findings from the Preston Men's Health Project

Background: Increasing concerns regarding the health of men - in particular, the rising prevalence of male-related conditions and men's suggested poor access and uptake of health services - has focused the minds of health practitioners and policy makers on understanding the role of masculinity in shaping men's health and on promoting greater gender-sensitivity and equality of access to health services. However, taking a gendered approach to health service delivery necessarily requires the development of effective strategies for accessing and engaging different constituencies of men. While a series of new initiatives and pilots to bridge the gap between men and their service needs has been established throughout the UK, as elsewhere in the world, few of these have been formally evaluated. This paper reports on the qualitative findings from one such initiative in the North of England: the Preston Men's Health Project. Methods: Taking account of age, ethnicity and sexuality, the Preston Men's Health Project was established as a response to the diverse health needs of men living in socially marginalised areas of inner-city Preston. Using a combination of focus groups, semi-structured and narrative interviews with project staff and service users, this article focuses on men's health as an embedded social practice and describes how men's health is mediated by family and community structures. Results and Conclusions: The Preston men's Health Project demonstrates how the successful deployment of outreach approaches provides a first-contact for men who wish to gain greater control over their health through a dual focus on formal services and informal supports, thus providing a bridge to healthcare-access for groups who traditionally fall outside the reach of orthodox service delivery