Australian Men’s Sheds and Their Role in the Health and Wellbeing of Men: A Systematic Review

Table 1

Summary of literature.

No.	Author, year, and country	Design	Purpose	Sample/population	Location	Method/intervention	Findings
1	Cox, Hoang, Barnett, Cross, (2020), Australia	Qualitative	Investigated how a cohort of Aboriginal men consider the value of shed participation	A total of 10 Aboriginal men from a single men’s shed	Rural	Semistructured interviews	Four themes; belonging, hope mentoring, and shared illness experiences
2	Ford, Scholz, & Lu, (2015), Australia	Quantitative	Examined health benefits of men’s sheds through the lens of social identity theory	A total of 322 men’s shed’s users in Australia	Mixed	Survey of four quality of life domains and their willingness to take health advise offered at sheds regarding physical, psychological, environmental, and social indicators	Shed participation is associated with positive health benefits and are useful sites for health promotion activities
3	Mahoney, Wilson, Buchanan, Milbourn, Hoey & Cordier, (2020), Australia	Mixed methods	The experiences of the older mentors from men’s sheds working with young adult men in an intergenerational program	16 mentors (older men)	Mixed	Mentees paired with a men’s shed mentor and attended the shed at least once per week over 6 months. Case managers are present for graded support	Significant improvements in mental health. No significant change in physical health and generativity
							learning together through a relational and practical routine was observed
4	Milbourn, Mahoney, Trimboli, Hoey, Cordier, Buchanan & Wilson, (2020), Australia	Qualitative	The experiences and occupational wellbeing of young adult men with intellectual disability in an intergenerational men’s she program	8 mentees (young men with intellectual disabilities) 5 parents of mentees	Urban	Mentees paired with a men’s shed mentor and attended the shed at least once per week over 6 months. Case managers are present for graded support. Interviews with mentees and parents	A positive impact on the mentees and their families was reported, including opportunities for social interaction, skill development, knowledge, validation, and self-belief
5	Misan, Oosterbroek & Wilson, (2017), Australia	Quantitative	Explore the health concerns, interests, help-seeking, and health-seeking behaviours and the preferences for receipt of such information	11 men’s sheds 154 men’s shed members	Rural	Survey	Key health issues were mainly age-related chronic conditions with the regular medical practitioner remaining the preference to receive health information. Knowledge of reproductive and psychological health was lacking. Hands-on or kinaesthetic approaches to information was preferred
6	Rahja, Newton Scanlan, Wilson, & Cordier, (2016), Australia	Qualitative	Provide insight into the outcomes of a mentoring program comparing characteristics of different programs as beneficial for a young male’s transition into adulthood	Sample 4 young people and 18 men who were mentors and members of the men’s shed	Urban	Interviews and case study descriptions	Mentor attitude towards the mentee’s, freedom to make independent choices and the nature and perceived usefulness of the project were considered the most significant characteristics of these programs
7	Southcombe, Cavanagh, & Bartram, (2015a), Australia	Qualitative	Investigation into capacity building at the community level in aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men’s groups and sheds	A total of 45 men from urban, regional and remote communities from 15 groups/sheds	Mixed	Yarning circles focus groups, semistructured interview technique	Capacity building results in better health outcomes and educates and empowers men to improve their social, cultural emotional and economic well-being. It helps men better connect with family and community
8	Southcombe, Cavanagh, & Bartram, (2015b), Australia	Qualitative	Investigate the influence of charismatic leadership on social connectiveness or retired men	A total of 305 men from 60 men’s sheds in urban and regional areas across every state and territory of Australia	Mixed	Focus groups (yarning circles) semistructured interviews with shed leaders, men members, and healthcare workers	Links between charismatic leadership and social connectiveness and well-being. Overall, the study found that charismatic leadership, value congruence, and social connectiveness contribute to the social and emotional well-being of men
9	Wilson, Cordier, Ciccarelli, MacCallum, Milbourn, Vaz, Joosten, Buchanan, McAuliffe & Stancliffe, (2018), Australia	Mixed methods	Feasibility study of intergenerational mentoring program in men’s sheds for young adult males with intellectual disabilities	5 mentees (young men with intellectual disabilities) 12 mentors (older men)	Urban	Mentees paired with two men’s shed mentors and attended the shed at least once per week (2 hrs) over 10-week period	The program presents a great “opportunity” and pose a viable option to support young people with intellectual disabilities
10	Wilson, Cordier, Parsons, Vaz & Ciccarelli (2019), Australia	Quantitative	Explore the social inclusion and health promotion activities in men’s sheds	305 men’s sheds	Mixed	International men’s shed survey of health promotion and social activities undertaken in the men’s sheds across Australia	Men’s sheds are 37% “active” in health promotion and 70% “active” in social inclusivity
11	Wilson, Cordier, Milbourn, Mahoney, Hoey & Buchanan, (2020), Australia	Quantitative	Explore the outcomes of intergenerational mentors in men’s sheds for young adult men with intellectual disabilities	18 mentees (young men with intellectual disabilities)	Mixed	Mentees paired with a men’s shed mentor and attended the shed at least once per week over 6 months. Case managers present for graded support	Improved community connection and quality of life was observed in the mentees
							There was no significant difference in the loneliness, wellbeing, or workplace adjustments of the mentees