Man-up for Mental Health: Challenging Male Drinking Culture at University of Calgary

Introduction: A survey was administered to students (N=466) (fall 2014). Two results of this survey identified key targets for intervention; first, the low number of students who reported seeking help, despite reporting poor mental health (24% reported poor subjective mental health) and high levels of stress (76% reported moderate to high stress) and second, that although drinking is prevalent (60% of students reported alcohol use) students consistently overestimate of the drinking of their peers.

Project Branding: The brand developed by the student leaders was “Man Up for Mental Health”. The goal of this brand was to change the meaning of the phrase, “man up”, which is normally used to discourage men from talking about their feelings or expressing their emotions. The students wanted to challenge what it means to “man up”, and see the term used in positive ways, such as “man up and ask your friend how they are doing”.

Methods: The student leaders identified that the campus needed to provide more safe and supportive spaces for men, so they implemented a male peer support program in partnership with the campus Wellness Centre. The peer support is open in the afternoon/early evenings, and is a drop-in service open to all members of the campus community. Through our partnership with the Wellness Centre, we hope to see this service continue past the completion of our project. The students also used a harm reduction approach to promote safe and responsible alcohol use by hosting events and activities throughout the academic year. They hosted a dry concert at a campus venue to provide an alternative to campus bars, they were present at campus bars handing out food, water, and information, partnered with a local restaurant to host an event, where alcohol sales were limited, and they hosted a large, dry, event at the end of the winter semester to celebrate the end of the year, and provide an alternative to the large, alcohol-based event currently available to students.

Evaluation: The efficacy of our program will be evaluated in several ways. First, qualitative interviews will be conducted with all the students who worked in the peer support program, as well as some of the students who utilize the service. Second, residence incident reports and university security reports will be used to assess trends on campus. Lastly, we will track all social media activity, website activity, and attendance at all our events. Student initiatives will wrap up in April 2016 and results from the evaluation of the program will be presented. Preliminary program evaluation results will be presented.