Home away from home: Health and wellbeing benefits of men's sheds

Abstract

Issue addressed Improving the health of men is a national policy priority. The Men's Shed program is one health promoting initiative that seeks to improve the health and wellbeing of men. This study assessed Men's Shed members’ perceptions of the health and wellbeing benefits of Men's Shed activity in a large regional Queensland Men's Shed. Methods Data were collected via a self‐administered questionnaire from 147 and three group interviews with 17 shedders. Wilcoxon signed‐rank test was used to determine differences in shedders perceived health and wellbeing measures retrospectively just before joining the Men's Shed and currently. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. Results There was no change in overall self‐assessed health of shedders before and after joining the Men's Shed. Shedders expanded their social networks, and experienced less felt need for social interaction. Shedders’ level of satisfaction with feeling part of the community and life as a whole increased. Health and wellbeing benefits of Men's Shed included fellowship, sense of belonging, access to equipment, and learning new and sharing their own skills. Conclusions The Men's Shed appeared to provide social health and wellbeing benefits to its members, and an environment for quality social interaction. The Men's Shed is seen as a place for and about members – men. So what? Men's Shed may have a unique role in supporting the social health and wellbeing of men beyond that already available from other community groups by providing an environment for the fellowship of men and activities of interest in an unstructured way.

Promotion of men’s mental health

“…Therefore, it seems essential to select suitable activities [6]. This is confirmed by studies published by Taylor et al [7]. The researchers developed a health promotion programme targeting mature males encouraging them to take up physical activity.…”

Alcohol consumption and dependence is linked to the extent that people experience need satisfaction while drinking alcohol in two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

“…Men’s sheds (some exclusively for Indigenous Australians) are spaces freely available to men to work together on wood-work or mechanical projects [ 67 ]. Joining a shed has been linked to increased numbers of friends, satisfaction of social needs, and a greater sense of achievement [ 68 ]. Cultural activity groups (e.g.…”

Older Aboriginal men creating a therapeutic Men's Shed: an exploratory study

“…The findings reflect many characteristics of previous Men's Shed research, with older and retired men reporting improved social, physical and emotional wellbeing while undertaking meaningful community and workshop activities with other men (Southcombe et al ., 2015; Taylor et al ., 2017). The functionality of this Shed also aligns with an international survey of Shed typologies, including their use as social places, workshops, mentoring, health promotion and adult learning places (Wilson et al ., 2015).…”

“…Men are particularly attracted to the male-friendly, community-based environments where they can engage in a variety of Shed activities with other men (Golding, 2015). Shed participation is reported to benefit men's overall health through increased physical activities and the acquisition of new workshop skills, improved mental and emotional wellbeing through greater social connectedness, self-esteem, confidence and reduced loneliness (Mackenzie et al ., 2017; Taylor et al ., 2017). Shed environments also provide opportunities for older men to redefine their male identities when they retire from work (Milligan et al ., 2015).…”