Young Men’s Health Initiative Provides Preventive Care and a Medical Home at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein For Underserved 18 – 24 Year Olds

Young men seek preventive medical care significantly less often than do young women, which can put them at risk of mental health conditions, diseases that can be prevented by vaccination and sexually transmitted diseases, among other conditions.

It’s an issue that Neal D. Hoffman, MD, Attending Physician, Adolescent Medicine, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein (CHAM), and Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, saw firsthand when he was Medical Director of the Montefiore School Health Program from 2005 through 2017.

“The ratio of young women to men utilizing well visits was about 2 to 1, and it should have been 1 to 1,” Dr. Hoffman said. “We would get adolescent males if they needed to get clearance to play a team sport or get a job, they were injured or they felt sick, whereas young women always asked, ‘What do I need to do to take care of myself?’”

Looking to address the problem head on, Dr. Hoffman started the Young Men’s Health Initiative, a pilot program targeting 18- to 24-year-old men, that is working to encourage young men to participate in preventive health services. The program is doing external outreach at local colleges and community-based organizations and internally at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein (CHAM) Emergency Department and the Pediatric Hospitalist Service to identify young men not currently connected to a medical home. Dr. Hoffman has also begun to reach out to the various CHAM subspecialty services, as evidence shows that young people with chronic illness, especially young men, often do not access primary care services given the care demands for their chronic conditions.

“The big drop-off is at age 18, (based on the National Health Interview Survey) in part because health insurance costs and ease of access to care may be barriers, so 18 to 24 years old is a very vulnerable time,” said Dr. Hoffman.

Curious to know why young men shied away from doctor visits, Dr. Hoffman has conducted qualitative research interviews and learned that many young men were afraid that their personal health information would be shared with parents or friends, which would be embarrassing. Young men also talked about easily feeling judged by providers. They also shared that they often lacked male role models who visited doctors, which would normalize the experience for them.

He hopes to change that by giving young men a medical home they can go to with health issues, questions and concerns. “Here, they are able to access well visits, sexual and reproductive health counseling and screening, as well as mental health and substance use screening and referrals,” Dr. Hoffman said.

The Young Men’s Health Initiative is currently located in Hoffman’s office at CHAM, 3415 Bainbridge Avenue. He received special permission to treat patients up to age 24 at CHAM, which typically only treats patients up to age 21. When patients age out of the program at 25, he will transition them to the family medicine practice.

Eventually, Dr. Hoffman hopes to create a Young Men’s Health Advisory to help guide further development of this pilot program.

“I would love to get to a point where we create a Young Men’s Health Center to be a space where young men feel comfortable to address all their health needs,” Dr. Hoffman said. “It’s a slowly developing initiative that can hopefully grow to meet what I think is a pretty large need.”

To learn more about the Young Men’s Health Initiative or to refer patients to the program, call 718-920-2232.