The mental health impact on women of engaging men in health interventions in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

TL;DR

This review explores how involving men in women's health programs in low- and middle-income countries affects women's mental health.

Contribution

The study systematically reviews evidence on the mental health impact of engaging men in women's health interventions.

Findings

Most studies measured men's engagement through attendance rather than deeper participation.

Interventions included separate or joint sessions for men and women.

There is a lack of comprehensive research on this topic.

Abstract

The field of women’s health, specifically maternal and child health, have recently pushed for male partners to be included in interventions. Currently, there are gaps in understanding how engaging men in these interventions might impact women’s mental wellbeing. The objective of this systematic review was to examine the evidence of the mental health impact on women of engaging male partners in health interventions in low and -middle-income countries. We conducted a systematic review of existing literature on women’s health interventions that engage male partners and report mental health outcomes at the end of the intervention. The protocol for this systematic review is registered with the PROSPERO database of systematic reviews (CRD42023450412). A tailored search strategy was conducted for both peer-reviewed publications and grey literature. Fourteen peer-reviewed full-text articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria and their quality was appraised. No grey literature fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Studies were compared on key elements of the 1) intervention, 2) men’s engagement methods and measurement, and 3) reported and assessed women’s mental health outcomes. Studies engaged male partners in a variety of ways, including separate concurrent interventions for men and women, joint interventions in which couples went to the intervention sessions together, and a mix of both joint and concurrent intervention components. The majority of studies measured men’s engagement by taking attendance. This systematic review presents critical insights into how men are engaged in women’s health interventions and its impact on women’s mental health. There is a dearth of research on this topic and most interventions only measure men’s engagement programmatically through taking attendance.

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