Author: Lyana Patrick, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Health, Simon Fraser University
Why do so many men grow moustaches every November? It started in Australia in 2003 when a small group of men grew moustaches to support men’s health and prostate cancer. From humble beginnings, the Movember movement has focused important international attention on issues like men’s mental health and suicide prevention, as well as prostate and testicular cancer.
But can a moustache save a life? According to DUDES Club members, it can.
DUDES Club is an innovative, community-driven men’s health program incorporating Indigenous approaches to healing and wellness. With help from Movember, a three-year research project with the DUDES Club demonstrated how a grassroots initiative could be mobilized to work by, for and with Indigenous men.
Indigenous men’s health
Research shows that men in general are less likely to seek medical attention than women in addition to being three times more likely than women to die by suicide. Indigenous men’s health is further impacted by a lack of research on health services directed specifically at Indigenous men. In addition to the impacts of harmful masculine norms such as being “strong and silent,” independent and emotionless, Indigenous men endure the impacts of historical injustices through ongoing experiences of racism, violence and social exclusion.