Seeking Provincial Health & Wellbeing Officers
The Irish Men’s Sheds Association has always held the Health and Wellbeing of its members as a top priority. To further this aim the IMSA intends to appoint volunteer Health and Wellbeing Coordination Officers to assist Sheds and Shedders to improve their physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing. If you would like to be one of these Coordinators please signal your interest to Niall Nordell at niall@menssheds.ie
We are seeking 2/3 Provincial Health and Wellbeing Officers for each Province.
The Plan. Initially the plan is to appoint Provincial Health and Wellbeing Officers who in turn will recruit Shed Health & Wellbeing Officers. The role of the Provincial H&WB Officers will be to assist the Shed Officers in organising events for individual or clusters of Sheds in activities which contribute to the Physical, Mental & Emotional health of Shedders and their communities. Nothing in this regard is carved in stone and the role of all the H &WB Officers will be to identify events which will maximise the participation of Shedders and which also can hopefully be replicated throughout the Men’s Sheds network.
Many Sheds have already invited speakers to give presentations on Men’s Health issues, others have had presentations on fitness, weight loss, smoking cessation and appropriate pastimes and activities which will raise the spirits and mental health of their members. Many Sheds would like to have presentations made to them on a wide range of subjects but do not know who to contact. The H&WB Officers will help to arrange these presentations or guide the Shed towards those organisations who CAN help.
Prevention is better than cure, and there is a host of things which men can do which will improve their quality of life and also extend it. The H&WB Officers will ensure that Shedders are informed on the best course of action to take to enhance their lifestyles. The IMSA would also like to be involved in the annual National Men’s Health Week which traditionally takes place in June. During this week of Men’s Health Awareness, Sheds may choose to have a Men’s Health Day in their Shed or other local premises where Shedders and men from the local community can have their blood pressure checked, their weight and fat content measured, and their cholesterol or blood sugar levels monitored by trained professionals. H&WB Officers would coordinate the participation of medical staff, or fitness advisors or dieticians or nutritionists for the Health Day and liaise with medical equipment and medical consumables suppliers. We have many, many National organisations who would love to address our Sheds on their specialist subjects . . . the H&WB Officers would coordinate these presentations. Another role of the H&WB Officers will be to report on the health and wellbeing interventions which Sheds or clusters of Sheds participate in during the year and in cooperation with IMSA personnel seek funding for activities which are perceived as being especially successful at improving Shedders health and wellbeing.
