Scaling what works with Movember

CEI hosted a three-day Knowledge Sharing workshop in London recently for global men’s health charity Movember, as part of its Scaling What Works (SWW) program.

SWW is supporting the spread and scale-up of 17 promising projects that target the mental health of men and boys in Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada – so that more people can benefit. Working in partnership with Movember, CEI will evaluate the implementation, impact and cost-effectiveness of the individual projects and the program overall, as well as generate learnings about ‘what works’ for scaling these kinds of projects.   

“Movember’s aim is to transform the way health programs reach and support boys and men,” says CEI’s Director and Evaluation Lead of the SWW program, Dr Anna Williamson. “Within this, they recognise the central place of implementation and scaling science and the need for intentional, strategic work on scale-up. These strands are often overlooked, meaning many promising projects don’t reach their full potential as they never move out of the piloting or early testing phase.”

The Knowledge Sharing workshop provided a key moment to extend capabilities and capacity among grantees. Bringing together people from each funded project, the workshop sought to build the implementation and evaluation thinking needed to scale effective programs, as well as facilitating exchange of knowledge between the funded groups.

“Investing in these 17 teams – not only with project funds but also through the provision of structured support to build key skills and knowledge about how to scale – is an important step in supporting scale-up success, now and into the future,” Anna explains.

“One of the most valuable aspects of the workshop was the teams coming together to share learnings and expertise with each other. These teams work at the coalface with fathers, with trans men, with high school students, with older men, with men at risk of gambling harm – all of whom are often overlooked by mainstream mental health services. They know their audiences and what’s needed and they have invaluable insights to share.”

“The support Movember is offering through the SWW fund will help teams reach the most marginalised men, build strong implementation foundations, and plan how to scale their reach and impact.”

Workshop participants appreciated the supportive and holistic approach:

• “… a wonderfully engaging and informative program. Great takeaways from the workshop, as well as solid connections with the other projects, will ensure maximum focus and continuity across the projects. It’s onwards and upwards from here!”
• “So much thoughtful planning and facilitation. Loved it. I appreciate you. I'm grateful to have you as a partner over the next two years.”

“Through the workshop’s sharing of expertise and experiences, we’re setting the scene for a Community of Practice to emerge as Movember’s funding program progresses,” says Anna.

“We're so excited to be working with this amazing group of projects over the next couple of years – to build connections, strengthen their capacity to scale and, ultimately, help improve the lives of boys and men.”

IMAGE (above): Participants and facilitators at the Knowledge Sharing workshop.