Contextual and cultural issues around providing community-based interventions to support the health and wellbeing of marginalised groups

We aim to explore contextual/cultural issues around providing community-based interventions to support the health and wellbeing of marginalised groups. There is uncertainty regarding the most effective ways to support the health and wellbeing of such groups that may not necessarily engage with traditional health services. It remains unclear whether a generic, autonomy-promoting intervention is universally suitable, or if community-based interventions require homogenous components to ensure they are both acceptable and effective.

In September 2024, researchers from University of Bremen (UoB) visited GCU and SETU (South East Technological University, Ireland) and a number of community organisations supporting men’s health and wellbeing. Their visit provided the opportunity to explore cultural and contextual differences between Germany community initiatives and those in Ireland and Scotland. Building on learning from this visit, we are applying for funding to support a visit by SETU to Scotland and a visit by GCU to Germany. The visits would allow for shared understanding of the impact culture and context has on how best to support health and wellbeing of marginalised groups, and facilitate development of a pan-Europe grant proposal on this important area of research.