Adhering to a people-centered approach and innovating working mechanisms: Experiences in promoting and serving men's health in Feicheng City, Shandong Province

Adhere to a people-centered approach and innovate working mechanisms

Actively explore new approaches to men's health promotion and services.

Du Yujiang, Director of the Family Planning Bureau of Feicheng City, Shandong Province

Feicheng City, located in central Shandong Province at the western foot of Mount Tai, is a nationally renowned hometown of Feicheng peaches. The city administers 14 townships/sub-districts, 1 high-tech development zone, and 626 administrative villages/neighborhood committees, covering a total area of ​​1277 square kilometers and a total population of 965,000. In recent years, we have firmly established and implemented the people-centered scientific development concept, taking the deepening of the "New Marriage and Childbearing Customs Entering Every Household" campaign as the overall guiding principle and strengthening population culture construction as the entry point. We adhere to one concept, carry out two activities, provide three guarantees, and make good use of four major platforms. We have actively innovated the work mechanism for male health promotion and services, effectively promoting the overall improvement of family planning work in the city. We have successively won honors such as National Demonstration County for the "New Marriage and Childbearing Customs Entering Every Household" campaign, Shandong Province Advanced County for Quality Family Planning Services, and Shandong Province New Fertility Culture Innovation Award. The city's family planning rate and public satisfaction rate have consistently remained above 99%. Our main practices are:

I. Adhere to one principle to solve the problem of focusing on men's health

Putting people first is the core of the Scientific Outlook on Development, the essence of the important thought of "Three Represents," and the starting point and end point of all our work. In our work on promoting and serving men's health, we have always adhered to the concept of "putting people first," aiming to promote the all-round development of people. We start by safeguarding the fundamental interests of the masses and by meeting their ever-growing material and cultural needs. We promote men's health, strengthen services for men, call on the whole society to care about male citizens and pay attention to men's health, and encourage men to consciously shoulder their responsibilities to their families and society, including production, life, reproduction, and eugenics, as well as education. We also mobilize the enthusiasm of male citizens to participate in family planning.

Family planning is a long-term fundamental national policy in my country. For many years, when discussing family planning, we have habitually focused on women as the "target group" and "object of concern," while neglecting the role of men in family planning and reproductive health. This has resulted in a "three-more, three-less" phenomenon: more attention to women's health, less attention to men's health; more health services for women, less for men; and more talk about women's role in family planning, less about men's role. However, with the deepening of population and family planning work in my country and the increasing influence of social, economic, and cultural factors on families, encouraging men's participation in family planning and calling for social attention to men's health are no longer just slogans. Years of practical experience have made us deeply aware that to effectively implement this fundamental national policy and enforce family planning laws and policies, we must keep pace with the times, pay attention to men's health, and consistently include men's health promotion and services on the important agenda of population and family planning work, treating it as a crucial task to be earnestly and effectively carried out.

In our specific work, adhering to the working principle of "relying on the community, multi-party collaboration, focusing on health, and encouraging participation," we leveraged the Hexi Community of the Xincheng Subdistrict Office as the leading project to implement multi-party collaboration, focusing on the community and families in our publicity and service efforts. To make our publicity and service activities for men's health more accessible, practical, and relatable to the public, and to be more humane and welcoming, we established a "six-in-one" information network for men's health needs, utilizing methods such as men's health needs surveys, private phone calls, a supportive mailbox, private chat rooms, in-person consultations, and online platforms. Based on the information collected, we then provided targeted services and conducted publicity. For example, in the first half of 2004, when our needs survey revealed a strong demand for increased publicity on men's health knowledge, we collaborated with the publicity department to launch a "Men's Health Window" on television and a "Men's Health Talk Every Day" program on the radio. Furthermore, we fully utilized the network advantages of family planning information technology to launch the "Men's Health Knowledge Network," greatly satisfying the public's demand for men's health knowledge. In response to the high work pressure and lack of time for health maintenance among male government officials, we meticulously produced "Male Health Check-up Cards" for them during the May Day holiday. We also established a male health check-up station at the city's Family Planning Technical Service Center, hiring male health experts to provide free check-ups during the holiday. For any male diseases detected, medication costs at the city station were discounted to wholesale prices, and all other fees were waived. This initiative generated a strong response throughout the city. Simultaneously, to meet the needs of male health check-ups in communities and rural areas, we actively participated in the Shandong Provincial Population and Family Planning Commission's "Love Project," investing over 400,000 yuan to purchase a fully equipped mobile reproductive health service vehicle to provide check-ups and treatment services to men in districts and villages. To date, over 80,000 men in the city have received varying degrees of consultation services, over 4,200 have received free check-ups, and over 200 cases of various male diseases have been diagnosed and treated, receiving unanimous praise from the public.

Second, we will carry out two activities to make articles focusing on men's health more engaging and effective.

The vitality of family planning publicity and education work lies in its activities. In our focus on men's health publicity and services, we have always regarded effective publicity activities as the key to promoting our work. We meticulously plan and deploy resources, introducing new methods and content every year. While making full use of traditional and statutory holidays such as New Year's Day, Spring Festival, May Day, and National Day to conduct men's health publicity and education activities, we also specifically designate the annual "Father's Day" and "National Men's Health Day" as concentrated publicity days, highlighting the theme of men's health and widely organizing publicity and service activities.

Firstly, during Father's Day on June 20th each year, we organize street promotional events under the theme of "Caring for Fathers' Health and Promoting Family Happiness," in conjunction with departments such as publicity, health, civil affairs, women's federation, youth league, culture, and education. We fully utilize display boards, information booths, mobile publicity vehicles, publicity teams, and leaflets to promote slogans such as "Caring for Men's Health and Promoting Family Happiness," "Husbands' Responsibility in Family Planning," and "Men Also Need Care." We disseminate scientific knowledge about men's health, create a social atmosphere that focuses on men's health, establish scientific, civilized, healthy, and progressive marriage and childbearing concepts, advocate for men's participation in family planning, promote civilized and happy families, and improve the quality of family life. During the event, the publicity department launched a "Men's Health Consultation Hotline" on the radio and programs such as "Men's Health Lectures" and "I Sing a Song for My Father" on television; the education department conducted activities such as "Celebrating My Father's Birthday" and "I Persuade My Father to Quit Smoking and Drinking" among primary and secondary school students; and the culture department held a summer cultural evening event on June 20th each year, themed "Caring for Fathers' Health and Promoting Family Happiness." By carrying out the "Caring for Fathers' Health and Promoting Family Happiness" campaign, the leading role of fathers in the family has been further clarified, men have been given the family and social responsibilities they should bear, and a strong social atmosphere of paying attention to men's health has been fostered.

Secondly, during the National Men's Health Day on October 28th each year, a key activity called "Focusing on Men's Health, Creating a Better Life" is carried out, centered on "Six Ones," mobilizing the entire society to pay attention to men's health and jointly create a better life. The "Six Ones" activities include: conducting a centralized men's health publicity campaign, holding a men's health knowledge competition, exchanging experiences on men's participation in family planning, performing a cultural program focusing on men's health, holding a men's health knowledge report meeting, and organizing free men's health checkups. Through these diverse publicity activities, new knowledge, concepts, and needs regarding men's health are further disseminated to communities, rural areas, and households, further strengthening the social atmosphere of focusing on men's health and truly transforming the previously "behind-the-scenes" activities into "transparent operations," making it a major event that the whole society cares about. Ms. Wang, a resident of Taohuayuan Community, said with deep feeling after watching last year's cultural performance focusing on men's health: "No wonder my old man has been so irritable and short-tempered lately. It turns out men also have menopause. I must take good care of him these days!"