GLASGOW CELTIC football club has teamed up with health and community services in Dublin’s north inner city to encourage men to give unhealthy lifestyle habits the boot.
The inspiration for the initiative is the football club’s “wellman programme”, which has been using the appeal of soccer to help encourage men to lead healthier and more active lifestyles.
The scope of the 10-week programme, which begins this week, is wider than just fitness. It also focuses on positive mental health, drug awareness, cookery skills and how to access local health services.
A total of 30 men between that ages of 30 and 65, are taking part. The programme is organised by the Larkin Centre, near Ballybough, and supported by the Health Service Executive, Pfizer Healthcare.
“It’s often a big problem trying to attract men to these kinds of programmes,” said Anne Flannery of the Larkin Centre.
“Celtic are huge around here, so we decided to use men’s passion for football to nurture and encourage them to make positive lifestyle changes.”
Research has consistently shown that men do not pay enough attention to their health and are less likely to seek help when problems arise.
These issues are even more acute in the inner city, where unemployment rates, alcohol problems and drug abuse are higher than among the general population.
Ms Flannery said the Larkin Centre went about trying to “gently encourage” men to sign up for the programme through its outreach programme. One incentive for men who successfully complete the programme will be tickets to see Celtic play in a few months’ time.
“Being able to approach and engage men in a friendly, non-threatening environment is important. Our outreach worker met people in the pub, the bookies, their homes, and introduced the idea. It generated a lot of interest and it began to spread by word of mouth,” said Ms Flannery.
The 10-week programme will typically involve two meetings a week. The programme will include health screening as well as training on fitness, healthy eating and cooking, positive mental health, sexual health awareness and dental hygiene.
The organisers hope those who take part in the programme will be empowered to take more positive choices in their day-to-day lives.
“Hopefully, men who take part in this will feel they have more control over their health, feel more confident and have the knowledge and skills to make positive and sustainable changes,” Ms Flannery said
She said most of the men taking part were welfare-dependent and may have felt there was little they could do to change their ways. But, she said, a key aim will be to empower men to make positive choices.
“Maybe they’ve allowed things to slip. They might be drinking and eating in an unhealthy manner,” she said.
“It’s never too late to change that, and maybe people will feel better and less financially stretched by making changes that may also have a positive spin-off effect on their relationships with their families.”
Celtic’s Irish representative, Michael O’Halloran, said he was delighted to be associated with the initiative.
“This programme aims to instigate a positive lifestyle change in males living in Dublin’s north inner city, and we look forward to playing our part in making this happen.”