Intervening in the community to increase health, wellbeing, social inclusion and employability of Men: Step by Step Project Protocol and Logic Model

Objective: The Step by Step (SBS) Project is a European, multi-centre, community based intervention. SBS aims to provide a cost effective, community, group-based intervention primarily focused on men using the concept of the Men's Sheds movement as its' structure. The objectives of SBS are to increase the health, wellbeing, social inclusion and employability of men thereby addressing inequalities in utilisation of health and social service provisions by this population who are at high risk of ill-health, social isolation and insecure employment. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a logic model and how the co-created framework will be used for the delivery and evaluation of the SBS project. Methods: Over the course of three joint meetings, representatives from eight stakeholder organisations met to discuss current best practice in community engagement and to co-create a male-centric, model of community driven service delivery. Staff involved in this process included community workers, public and private sector public health and health promotion specialists. The stakeholder organisations involved were from the Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The model development was co-ordinated by one stakeholder organisation and the final model was agreed as the delivery model. This was then translated into a logic model to aid identification of the aims, actions, assumptions, short-term and medium-term outcomes and the evaluation framework of outcome indicators. Findings: The SBS community space will create an environment where men (shedders) can gather to share skills, knowledge and camaraderie with other shedders and leaders. Leaders will consist of those with skills expertise, organisational responsibility of the space and health champions (peer mentors trained in enabling health conversations). Outcome data will be collected at baseline and 12 months using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods. Conclusion: The co-created model of service delivery will be an expansion of the original Men's Sheds movement which will engage this population in structured meaningful activities to improve their physical health, wellbeing, social integration and employability. By conducting an economic costing and comprehensive process evaluation the SBS project will have the potential to inform other future community interventions