Men’s Health Equity: A Handbook

Worldwide, men have more opportunities, privileges, and power, yet they also have shorter life expectancies than women. Why is this? Why are there stark differences in the burden of disease, quality of life, and length of life amongst men, by race, ethnicity, (dis)ability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, rurality, and national context? Why is this a largely unexplored area of research? Men’s Health Equity is the first volume to describe men’s health equity as a field of study that emerged from gaps in and between research on men’s health and health inequities.

This handbook provides a comprehensive review of foundations of the field; summarizes the issues unique to different populations; discusses key frameworks for studying and exploring issues that cut across populations in the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Central America, and South America; and offers strategies for improving the health of key population groups and achieving men’s health equity overall. This book systematically explores the underlying causes of these differences, describes the specific challenges faced by particular groups of men, and offers policy and programmatic strategies to improve the health and well-being of men and pursue men’s health equity. Men’s Health Equity will be the first collection to present the state of the science in this field, its progress, its breadth, and its future.

This book is an invaluable resource for scholars, researchers, students, and professionals interested in men’s health equity, men’s health, psychology of men’s health, gender studies, public health, and global health.

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Part I: Psychosocial and Developmental Foundations of Men’s Health Equity

2. Introduction

3. Derek M. Griffith, PhD, Marino A. Bruce, PhD, MSRC, MDiv, and Roland J. Thorpe, Jr., PhD

4. Masculinity and Men’s Health Disparities: Conceptual and Theoretical Challenges

5. Steve Robertson, PhD, RGN and Lynne Kilvington-Dowd

6. Precarious Manhood for Men’s Health and Men’s Health Disparities

7. Joseph A. Vandello, PhD, Jennifer K. Bosson, PhD, and Joanna R. Lawler

8. Fatherhood as a Social Context for Reducing Men’s Health Disparities: Lessons Learned from the Fathers and Sons Program

9. Cleopatra Howard Caldwell, PhD, Kazumi Tsuchiya, MPH, Shervin Assari, MD, MPH, and Alvin Thomas, PhD

10. Young Adulthood and Health Disparities in African American Males

11. Michael Cunningham, PhD and Antanious White

12. Middle-Aged Men’s Health: Patterns and Causes of Health Inequities During a Pivotal Period in the Life Course

13. Derek M. Griffith, PhD, Emily Cornish Jaeger, MPH, Ledric D. Sherman, PhD, MA, and Heath J. Moore, BS

14. Men’s Health in Later Life: Diverse and Intersecting Contexts

15. Jamie Mitchell, MSSW, PhD, Julie Ober Allen, PhD, MPH, and Ramona Perry, BA

16. Measuring the Dimensions of African American Manhood: A Factor Analysis

17. Derek M. Griffith, PhD, Jacquelyn S. Pennings, PhD, Marino A. Bruce, PhD, MSRC, MDiv, and Gregory D. Ayers, MS

    Part II: Environmental, Social, and Policy Determinants of Men’s Health Inequities

18. Being a Man in the Countryside: How Rural Men Navigate Health and Masculinity

19. Bradley Hiebert, MSc, PhD, Beverly Leipert, RN, PhD, and Sandra Regan, RN, PhD

20. Urban Men’s Health: How Urban Environments Affect Black Men’s Health

21. Waldo E. Johnson, Jr., PhD, MSW

22. Incarceration as Determinant of Poor Health Outcomes

23. Jason M. Williams, PhD and Carrie Bergeson, MS, CFLE

24. The Public Health Disparities of Domestic Violence: Including the Perspectives and Health of Ethnic-Minority Men

25. Rohan D. Jeremiah, PhD and Olubunmi Basirat Oyewowo-Gassikia, PhD, LMSW

26. Global Men’s Health Policy

27. Noel Richardson, PhD, James A. Smith, PhD, Steve Robertson, PhD, RGN, and Peter Baker, MA, FRSPH

28. Health, Public, and Social Policy

29. Henrie M. Treadwell, PhD and Marguerite J. Ro, DrPH

30. What Influences Adolescent Black Male Development and Well-Being? Implications of the Limits and Opportunities of Social Policy

31. Keon L. Gilbert, DrPH, MA, MPH, Rashawn J. Ray, PhD, and Odis D. Johnson, PhD

    Part III: Health Behaviors and Health Outcomes

32. Male Health Behaviors

33. Michael J. Rovito, PhD, CHES, FMHI

34. Considerations in Men’s Mental Health Promotion and Treatment

35. Zac E. Seidler, MCP, Simon M. Rice, PhD, John S. Ogrodniczuk, PhD, David Kealy, PhD, Haryana M. Dhillon, PhD, and John L. Oliffe, PhD, MEd, RN

36. Depression, Trauma, and Suicide Among Adolescent and Young Adult Males

37. Michael A. Lindsey, PhD, MSW, MPH and Yunyu Xiao, MPhil

38. Men’s Trauma, Depression, and Suicide in Adulthood

39. Daphne C. Watkins, PhD and Janelle R. Goodwill, MSW

40. Cancer Disparities in Men

41. Kelvin A. Moses, MD, PhD, FACS

42. Diabetes Health Disparities in Men: A Brief Review of the Influence of Gender on the Onset and Progression of Diabetes in Men and Implications for Interventions and Practice

43. Jaclynn M. Hawkins, MSW, PhD, Rosalyn Denise Campbell, PhD, LMSW, Charles Graham, LSMW, PhD

    Part IV: Men’s Health Inequities in the United States

44. The Health of Gay and Bisexual Men: Theoretical Approaches and Policy Implications

45. Stephanie H. Cook, DrPH, MPH, Erica P. Wood, MPH, Jason Harris, MPH, Paul D’Avanzo, MS, and Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, MS, MPH

46. Transgender and Intersex Men

47. David A. Rubin, PhD

48. Health Disparities Among Men with Disabilities and Functional Limitations

49. Carlos M. Cervantes, PhD, CAPE and Samuel R. Hodge, PhD

50. Asian American Men’s Health: Applications of the Racial-Cultural Framework

51. Y. Joel Wong, PhD, Keiko McCullough, and Kuo Deng

52. Understanding Health Inequalities Experienced by Black Men: Fundamental Links Between Racism, Socioeconomic Position, and Social Mobility

53. Darrell Hudson, PhD, MPH, Andrae Banks, PhD, LCSW, Derek Holland, MPH, and Whitney Sewell

54. Understanding Health and Health Disparities in European American Boys and Men

55. Eric S. Mankowski, PhD and Nick Glover

56. Cultural, Social and Historical Factors Influencing Latino Men’s Health

57. Jason Daniel-Ulloa, PhD, India J. Ornelas, and Alejandra Escoto

58. Seeking Health and Well-Being for Indigenous North American Men

59. Arthur W. Blume, PhD

60. Achieving Health Equity for Native Hawaiian Men: Aia I Hea Ka Wai A Kāne

61. Ka‘imi Alohilani Sinclair, PhD and Joseph Keawe‘aimoku Kaholokula, PhD

    Part V: Men’s Health Inequities Across the Globe

62. Understanding Inequities in Men’s Health in Australia: What Do We Know?

63. James A. Smith, PhD, Murray Drummond, MEd, PhD, Mick Adams, PhD, Jason Bonson, Benjamin Christie

64. Which Men? Inequality, Ethnicity, and Gender in Brazil’s National Men’s Health Program

65. Gary Barker, PhD, Eduardo Schwarz, and Daniel Costa Lima

66. Picturing Intersectionality in Men’s Suicide Research: A Photovoice Case Study of Gay and Bisexual Men

67. Olivier Ferlatte, PhD and John L. Oliffe, PhD, MEd, RN

68. Regional Variation in Determinants of Men’s Health: Comparison of South, Central, and North America

69. Shervin Assari, MD, MPH

    Part VI: Final Thoughts and Future Directions

70. Life Course Perspective: Implications for Men’s Health Equity

71. Roland J. Thorpe, Jr., PhD and Paul C. Archibald, DrPH, LCSW-C

72. Afterword

73. Lisa Bowleg, MA, PhD

74. Conclusion

Derek M. Griffith, PhD, Marino A. Bruce, PhD, MDiv, and Roland J. Thorpe, Jr., PhD

Derek M. Griffith, PhD is the Founder and Director of the Center for Research on Men’s Health and Professor of Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University. His research applies an intersectional approach to explore strategies to eliminate men’s health disparities and improve Black and Latino men’s health in the United States and the health of men across the globe.

Marino A. Bruce, PhD, MSRC, MDiv is Associate Director of the Center for Research on Men’s Health, Director of the Program for Research on Faith and Health within the Center, and Research Associate Professor of Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University. His research examines religion and spirituality as determinants of health for African American boys and men.

Roland J. Thorpe, Jr., PhD is Founding Director of the Program for Research on Men’s Health and Associate Professor of Health, Behavior, and Society at Bloomberg School of Public Health. As a social epidemiologist and gerontologist, his research focuses on understanding the biopsychosocial factors that lead to improving the lives of African American men using a life course perspective.

Men’s Health Equity presents a timely and welcome intersectional analysis of multiple men’s health issues, from cancer and diabetes to trauma and suicide. Contributions from leading experts across different disciplines showcase the impact of social determinants, such as racism, homophobia and deprivation, on the health and wellbeing of diverse groups of men. I believe this volume will prove to be a landmark text for understanding – and improving – serious health inequalities affecting men and their communities.

Brendan Gough
Professor of Social Psychology

Leeds School of Social Sciences