"When one man shares feelings and vulnerability, he opens the door for another man to walk through it with his own sharing of authentic feelings” – Ben Hughes, The Men’s Table
The Men’s Table is a preventative men’s mental health initiative that commenced in 2011 with one group of men. The experiences of this first informal group led to the development of a guide on how to form a successful group, called The Men’s Table Fundamentals.
From the beginning of 2019, when The Men’s Table was offered to men in the community, introductory sessions called Entree meetings were held to encourage more men to form or join their own local Table groups. In one year, between January and December 2019, the number of Table groups expanded from one to 15 Tables with a total of 148 members (see Appendix A for Table Locations).
The Men’s Table is rapidly developing from an informal ‘self- help’ strategy to a national network of Tables. This growth provided an opportunity to evaluate the experience of the men who are Table members, focusing on their motivation to join and the perceived impact that participation had on their lives and relationships. We also wanted to gather evidence on the effectiveness of the Table
approach by exploring how The Fundamentals were implemented in practice, how they contribute to outcomes for participants, and the extent to which the model is robust.
The outcomes of this investigation are The Men’s Table Model and an evaluation tool, establishing a foundation for the growth of the network of Tables, the ongoing fidelity of the model, and directions for future development, evaluation and research.
This paper presents The Men’s Table Model and explores the underpinning evidence. Read/Donload the document (6 MB) here.
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