Research points to increasing inequality between men and women’s well-being after retirement. Women more often than men engage in social relationships that span work life and leisure, while men in this life phase are particularly vulnerable to risks of poor mental health, social isolation, and loss of meaning. The project Literary Communities for Men is a development initiative aiming to engage men across the country in reading communities, with the goal of counteracting experiences of loneliness and meaninglessness, and the associated risk of ill mental health.
The project builds on knowledge from the research project Read, Man!, conducted by the National Institute of Public Health, which investigated guided shared reading as a health-promoting activity for men transitioning into retirement. Findings from Read, Man! indicate that reading communities positively contribute to men’s well-being during this transition and that these communities can help foster a sense of meaning, well-being, and social connectedness. The project is carried out by the organizations Ældre Sagen (The DaneAge Association) and Læseforeningen (The Danish Reading Society), and it is evaluated by the National Institute of Public Health.
Purpose
The evaluation of Literary Communities for Men aims to 1) investigate and document the implementation of shared reading as a means to promote mental health among older men, and 2) investigate and document the perceived benefits of shared reading as a health-promoting intervention for the target group.
Method
The evaluation employs a qualitative approach and is based on principles from realist evaluation theory, aiming to identify and describe specific mechanisms of change for the intervention, based on the question: What works, for whom, how, and under what circumstances?
Project period
The project began in 2022 and will be completed by mid-2025.
Collaborations and funding
The project is a partnership between the National Institute of Public Health, the DaneAge Association, and the Danish Reading Society. The project is financially supported by TrygFonden.