A Global Perspective on the Field of Men’s Health: An Editorial

Gender-specific approaches to health and health care recognize the different experiences of women and men and of various populations of women or men. As yet, little is known about men’s gender-specific health care needs. This article outlines precepts for developing new theoretical paradigms and research models and offers direction for social scientists and practitioners in the nascent field of men’s health. It advocates interdisciplinary approaches that explore how biological, sociocultural, psychological, and behavioral factors interact to mediate the physical and mental health of men and boys. It recommends that these approaches apply social structural analyses, examine geographic and cultural contexts, integrate recent theory and research on masculinity, and develop relational paradigms that recognize dynamic intersections of various social factors. It suggests that the multinational nature of men’s health requires new global community health models for addressing the convergence of micro and macro health determinants at international, national, community, and individual levels.