Health promotion with adolescent and young adult males: an empowerment approach.

Adolescent and young adult males, especially those who are economically and socially marginalized, need greater access to "male-friendly" health services. Engaging young males in health education and clinical services is challenging but feasible and is of vital importance not only for young men, but also their families, their communities, and the nation. Health and social service providers can play vital roles in promoting the health and well-being of young men by developing mutually respectful collaborations that break down the silos separating medical, educational, juvenile justice, social service, and other systems. We present the interdisciplinary clinic- and community-based initiatives developed by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and New York-Presbyterian Hospital that connect young males to clinical and health education services and empower them to choose behaviors that promote their health. We describe our "empowerment approach" to working with young men that recognizes the powerful influence of gender on utilization of health services, emphasizes the importance of a strengths-based perspective, and reframes the context of help seeking from passive participation to active engagement.