Did you know that June is Men’s Health Month? When we think about Men’s Health, the topic typically lands on exercise, heart or sexual health. While those are very important issues in themselves, we should not overlook the often stigmatized mental health of the men in our nation.
Although Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias are not always included in Behavioral Health categories, even within healthcare facilities, it is still one of the leading causes of death within all ethnic and minority groups. Unfortunately, the more comorbidities that a person has, the higher the risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease or related dementias.
An additional risk factor is actually being a caregiver, especially to someone with a chronic condition. As many individuals are caregivers and may not know that they are, either because of a lack of understanding the definition of what it means to be a caregiver, or the fact that they may believe that they are simply doing their duty to a loved one, most caregivers do not receive necessary support.
There are fortunately more services than ever to support all people that identify as caregivers and for those men that struggle to reach out for that needed support, we now are able to offer them a variety of resources and tools. They are as follows:
Did you know that there is a support group led by SelfMade Health Network (SMHN) in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Consortium of National Networks [Networking2Save] with a shared focus on health equity, cancer, and tobacco-related disparities specifically, among low-income populations and other populations with low socioeconomic status (SES) characteristics.
What tools and resources do you all have for the community? How are you supporting men in this nation as we celebrate Men’s Health Month?