Mental health for men in the workplace is a discussion Prince George is getting on the table.
A set of health professionals is calling men to a research roundtable - a frank discussion about mental health for men, and how it affects the workplace.
They are looking for solutions, and the feedback from these dialogue sessions will help give them a direction.
"Men in Prince George working in construction, trucking, road maintenance and shipping, as well as those who work in sawmills and in the pulp and paper industry, are being asked to weigh in about ways to support mental wellness in the workplace," said Cherisse Seaton, adjunct professor at UNBC, and research coordinator at UBC. The two universities are working together with government and industry to try solving some of these problems and magnify the successes.
The people who come to the discussion will, however, remain anonymous. Seaton wants high-quality discussion so people are asked to speak freely in the room, but the room is not open to the public and the research process will protect all identities involved.
"More discussion has been happening since the Bowering Report, I believe," said Margaret Jones-Bricker of the Canadian Cancer Society, one of the agencies leading the call to increase the spotlight on men's health.
The Bowering Report was a 2010 document by Northern Health's former chief medical officer, Dr. David Bowering, clearly showing that men were dying and suffering partially due to a cultural bias against men discussing their health problems.
"This is not something that can be fixed by education workshops," Bowering said, following the report's release.
"It requires a real deep rethink."
"I think people started to pay attention more at that point and it became something internally (in the healthcare community) that we all noticed and when we took action on that, it created a momentum that way," Jones-Bricker said.
Two discussion groups have been scheduled, one for Tuesday from 2-4 p.m. and another option is Wednesday from 5-7 p.m. Participants will be given the location when they sign up to attend.
The overall goal is to improve all health outcomes for men, in the long run, but the discussions are zeroing in on mental wellness at this point because it is seen as a doorway issue into all the physical ones.
That's why Northern Health launched the Heads Up initiative, to give men in northern B.C. a place to talk about stress, mental illness, work-life balance, family functionality, and all those psychological issues that can then spin off into physical issues and more.
This initiative will also help a four-year program called PowerPlay through which Northern Health, UNBC, UBC, Athabasca University, the BC Cancer Agency, and the Canadian Cancer Society, and other partners are sharing research and data on men's health in the bigger sense.
"Few wellness programs have considered the unique challenges of engaging men in northern and rural contexts," said Seaton.
"The aim of the Heads Up project is to develop a workplace-based mental wellness module for the PowerPlay Program."
If any man has time to join the discussion on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday evening, he is asked to send an email to cherisse.seaton@ubc.ca or call 250-649-7138.
