In A CALL TO ACTION: The Alberta Suicide Prevention Strategy, middle-aged males are an identified group at risk of suicide. The AMHB is working in partnership with East Central Health and the Suicide Prevention Resource Centre/PACE (Providing Assistance Counselling and Education) in Grande Prairie to address the suicide prevention needs of men, their families and their communities.
Alberta Takes Action on Men at Risk – The AMHB is assisting East Central Health and the Suicide Prevention Resource Centre of PACE to expand the existing Men at Risk Program currently operating out of Grande Prairie and area to the East Central region. The Men at Risk Program is an Alberta-based initiative first developed in 1999 by the Grande Prairie and Area Safe Communities, PACE and the Suicide Prevention Resource Centre. The purpose of this program is to increase awareness of and reduce stigma about mental health problems through delivering education to the target groups of males employed in trades, industry and agriculture and those who interact with them such as family members and friends, co-workers, supervisors and others. AMHB Men at Risk Launch release
A Summary of the Evidence to Support the Men at Risk Program - Alberta Health Services/Alberta Mental Health Board is committed to evaluating new initiatives implemented to address goals, objectives and priority at-risk groups of A CALL TO ACTION. The replication of the Men at Risk program from one area of Alberta to other areas of the province is one of these new initiatives.
In keeping with this commitment to evaluation, AHS/AMHB requested proposals for an external evaluation team to conduct a formative evaluation to assess the replication of the Men at Risk program from the Grande Prairie area to the Camrose and Lloydminster areas.
One of the first key tasks of this evaluation team was to complete a thorough review of the literature, titled Literature Review: Men at Risk Program Evaluation. Topic areas covered include: Risk Factors for Suicide, Mental Health and Men, Help-Seeking Behaviour in Men, Workplace Wellness, Marketing Mental Health Programs to Men, Suicide Prevention Programs (Current State and Recommendations for Further Development), and Relativity to the Men at Risk Program. Literature Review - Men at Risk Program Evaluation