Major research project aimed at curbing male suicide

A generous grant from the Randal Foundation is enabling a major research project by the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys (CPRMB) to assess the value of male community-based programmes in benefitting adult male mental health.   More than 80 men per week take their own lives in England.  That is three times the number of people killed on the country’s roads. Suicide remains the biggest killer of men under 50.  The aim of the research is to help inform and shape national and regional policies with the goal of cutting those numbers by 10% in five years.  This research also aligns with the delivery of the Men’s Health Strategy for England.

Men traditionally are reluctant to access clinical services and it’s hoped male community health organisations and their programmes (e.g., Men’s Sheds, Andy’s Man Clubs, Talk Clubs) may be shown to provide support in an effective and scalable way. If that proves to be the case, the aim is that local authorities, national/local health departments, mental health services, and funders (including philanthropic and corporate) will support and incorporate such groups into broader strategies.

Dr Nik Kotecha OBE DL, Founder and Chairman of the Randal Foundation says, “We are delighted to be providing the enabling funding for the CPRMB to carry out this vital work.  Male suicide is a scourge that damages far too many lives.  The Randal Foundation has a proud record of working with a number of mental health charities and that experience has inspired us to back this ground-breaking project.”

The research will be conducted by John Tomaney, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning in the Bartlett School of Planning at University College London and his team which has already carried out exciting and encouraging work into non-clinical interventions into men’smental health in the north-east of England.

The research team will aim to map the various organisations around the country and to interview the people who run them and those who attend.  It will lookat how and why various groups were founded and the benefits their members feel they get from them.  It will examine any problems they may have in terms of funding, capacity and meeting spaces, for example, and consider ways in which they might be supported by GPs, health trusts,employers, local authorities, etc.  It will also look at the image and promotion of such groups online, offline and in the media and social media as there is already evidence that men are more likely to seek help when struggling if engaged by such campaigns.

Chair of the CPRMB, Professor Roger Kirby says, “Male mental health problems in general and suicides in particular are at epidemic levels, and it’s clear that we need more tools to deal with these problems than are currently available to the health services.  We at the CPRMB are deeply grateful to the Randal Foundation for their incredible generosity in supporting this research into community-based programmes.  Without their help we wouldn’t be able to conduct this work, which may well prove to reduce the appalling suicide statistics and save men’s lives.”

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