It is International Men’s Day today; key themes include the promotion of positive conversations about men and a celebration of the contribution that men make to our communities. One of the issues recognised as affecting boys and young men is a lack of male mentors or role models and this echoes our project findings in relation to an often heard cry around a lack of men working in adult social care.

There is no doubt that men are under-represented in social care, making up just 18% of the workforce. This means that the social care workforce does not reflect the communities it serves, nor does it meet the preferences of men who draw on care and support who wish to be supported by male support staff. Our IMPACT Facilitator project investigated the perceptions of men about why this may be.

Our London-based IMPACT Facilitator spent 12 months in and around adult social care environments talking to 56 men who worked in, or who had left, adult social care jobs and young men at sixth form colleges who were asked about their future career choices. We also talked to people living in care homes and others in receipt of social care.

Read more

This was one of 21 Facilitator projects delivered since........

© Herald Scotland