Health Promotion with Adolescent Boys and Young Men of Colour: Global Strategies for Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice in Context

This book highlights novel and pragmatic health promotion efforts being adopted with boys and young men of colour (BYMOC) globally that apply a strengths-based approach. 

Men's adoption of risky health practices and reluctance to seek help and engage in preventive health behaviours have frequently been used to explain their poorer health outcomes, particularly among adolescent boys and young men, and disproportionately affecting BYMOC. Emerging literature on equity and men's health has conveyed that intersections among age, race, sexuality, socioeconomic status and geography contribute to a complex array of health and social inequities. There is growing evidence to suggest these inequities shape the health practices of BYMOC. Unfortunately, these health and social inequities can have negative lifelong consequences. An increased focus on reducing health inequities has led to a greater focus on health promotion actions that address social and cultural determinants of health.

The vulnerabilities that BYMOC face are diverse and are reflected in a range of tailored health promotion interventions. Health promotion approaches that influence structural and systemic inequities experienced by BYMOC have been a prominent feature. In this volume, the editors and contributors purposefully bring together international research and promising practice examples from Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and Canada to celebrate health promotion strategies that help to improve the health and social trajectories of BYMOC. In doing so, the book moves beyond discussing the health inequities faced by this population, to talk about the practical actions to address them in context.

Health Promotion with Adolescent Boys and Young Men of Colour brings together diffuse strands of scholarship relating to male health promotion, gender/masculinities and health, equity and men's health, and gender and youth development. The book is a unique and useful resource for practitioners, policy-makers, researchers and students with an interest in health promotion/public health, social work/social policy, education, men's health, youth development, Indigenous studies, and health and social equity.

James A. Smith PhD, is the Deputy Dean of Rural and Remote Health Northern Territory, and Matthew Flinders Professor (Health and Social Equity) at Flinders University, Australia. He has worked at the research-policy-practice nexus in men’s health for over two decades, with national and global expertise in men’s help seeking, men’s health promotion, men’s health equity, and men’s health policy. He was the inaugural Director of the Freemasons Centre for Male Health and Wellbeing – Northern Territory at Menzies School of Health Research, and has been an advisor to numerous national and global organisations with an interest in men’s health, including the World Health Organization. In 2020, he was the NT Fulbright Senior Scholar where he visited the United States to explore health promotion strategies aimed at reducing health inequities among boys and young men of colour. In 2021, Professor Smith was presented the NT Men’s Health People’s Choice Award, and National Runner-Up in Men’s Health Research Award, by the Australian Men’s Health Forum. He is a Fellow of the Australian Health Promotion Association, Editor-in-Chief of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia, and Editorial Advisory Board Member of the International Journal of Men’s Social and Community Health. He holds honorary academic status at multiple universities in Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Daphne C. Watkins PhD, is a University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, Professor of Social Work, and Director of the Vivian A. and James L. Curtis Center for Health Equity Research and Training at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on generating new knowledge about: (1) the social determinants of health that explain within-group differences for boys and men; (2) evidence-based strategies to improve the mental health of boys and men; and (3) the intersection of age, culture, and gender. Dr. Watkins is a mixed methods expert who uses qualitative and quantitative data to increase knowledge about how intersecting social determinants and gender dynamics place Black men at high risk for poor health. She is the past President of the American Men’s Studies Association and the Founding Director of the Young Black Men, Masculinities, and Mental Health (YBMen) Project. She also serves on several committees and boards aimed at improving men’s health domestically and globally.

Derek M. Griffith PhD, is a Founder and Co-director of the Racial Justice Institute, Founder and Director of the Center for Men’s Health Equity, and Professor of Health Management and Policy and Oncology at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Trained in psychology and public health, Dr. Griffith’s program of research focuses on developing strategies to improve Black men’s health and to achieve racial, ethnic, and gender equity and justice in health and well-being. Dr. Griffith is Chair of Global Action on Men’s Health, and hehas collaborated with colleagues in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States on various research projects. Dr. Griffith is a contributor to and editor of Racism: Science and Tools for the Public Health Professional (APHA Press, 2019) and Men’s Health Equity: A Handbook (Routledge, 2019), and author of over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He has been the principal investigator of research grants from the American Cancer Society, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, several institutes within the National Institutes of Health, and other entities.