Help seeking and access to health and social services among Anishnaabe men

Introduction: Although the issue of access to health and social services in Indigenous communities appears more pressing for men than for women, studies have tended to focus on women's perspectives. Moreover, most studies focus on the barriers preventing access to services rather than on facilitators of help seeking. The objective of this study was to identify factors facilitating help seeking within three Anishnaabe communities in Québec, Canada. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 15 Anishnaabe adult men having recently (<5 years) used at least one health or social service. Results: The interviews allowed to identify triggers of Anishnaabe men's help-seeking behaviour (e.g. crisis situation, awakening), motivators of help seeking (e.g. pursuit of well-being for oneself and family), their apprehensions about help seeking (e.g. mistrust towards service providers), as well as facilitators of help seeking (e.g., knowledge of services, ability to express emotions). Conclusions: To foster Anishnaabe men's help seeking, efforts should be made to reach out to them rather than waiting for them to reach out to services. Giving visibility to their engagement and personal development is likely to encourage other men to follow their example. Considering Anishnaabe men's strong sense of self-reliance, procedures of access to services should be simplified, and information sharing about services should be improved.