Oral Presentation (max 20 mins including Q&A) National Men's Health Gathering 2025

Review and recommendations for cohesive Australian policy and investment into e-mental health interventions for men (129144)

Melissa Opozda 1 , Murray Drummond 2 3 , Himanshu Gupta 1 , Jasmine Petersen 2 3 , James Smith 1 2 4
  1. Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Casuarina
  2. Flinders Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing, College of Education, Psychology, and Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide
  3. SHAPE Research, Flinders University, Adelaide
  4. School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

Few men who experience a common mental disorder access any mental health care from a health professional. E-mental health (eMH; online) interventions may facilitate men’s access to mental healthcare and reduce inequities in care access by providing assistance in a format that aligns with their preferences and needs. Recent reviews show that men who have used psychotherapeutic eMH interventions generally find them useful and satisfactory, though data on their effectiveness and factors impacting effectiveness in men’s use are limited and few eMH interventions have been designed to suit men’s priorities and circumstances. Despite their potential, Australian men’s health, digital mental health, preventive health, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and social and emotional well-being policies make no specific mention of progressing the use or evaluation of eMH interventions for men. This presentation will describe the current state of eMH for men in Australian health policies, and present a series of policy recommendations aiming to improve men’s access to effective and acceptable mental health assistance via eMH interventions and increase health professional confidence to recommend and support these programmes. These include the need for specific, connected health policy actions and targeted funding; policy priorities for intervention development, dissemination and evaluation; and for the experiences of men, particularly those from marginalized and vulnerable backgrounds, to be centred in policy. EMH interventions for men should be promoted alongside interventions to address social, cultural, and commercial determinants of men’s mental health inequities.