The 'Future Options'
consultation conducted over November 2005
received 70 responses. The survey was posted out
to the entire membership (approx. 200) and also
made available online through the website. The
response rate (based on direct mail to approx.
200 community members) was 35%.
For the purposes of this survey the word
'man' was used to refer to our target group of
men identified 'female' at birth
including those who seek medical assistance to
correct their public- and legal- sex to
male.
1. Respondents
Almost 20% of respondents who replied to the
survey were from a group other than a man with
ts. The remaining 81% constituted the target
group.
1.1 Age of
Respondents
The main age group which responded were
26-45 years of age (57% of respondents). 9%
of respondents were over 56 years of age. Two
age groupings, 'under-25' and '46-55' years
of age were equally represented at 17%.
1. 2 Reported
Disability
The majority of respondents reported they
were free from disability or did not comment.
Of the 37% who reported living with a
disability, 18% indicated they lived with a
physical disability and 13% indicated a
psychiatric disability.
2. Overview of importance of a Resource
Service
Responses to the next group of survey
questions were based on a five-point scale -
from 5 indicating 'completely agree' to 1
indicating 'completely disagree'. 90% of
respondents indicated their complete agreement
for a resource service to continue.
A similar statement "It is important to
publish and print resources for men, their
families and their professionals" received
74% total agreement with this statement.
3. Facilities of a Resource Service
Items regarding facilities and activities
were assessed as to the importance respondents
placed on them.
Arranged alphabetically, items in this group
were:
- Information Sessions for men and their
families
- Information Sessions or special events
for Professionals
- Newsletter
- Office / Premises
- Resources / Fact Sheets
- Telephone line
While the entire 1-5 range was available for
each statement, just the total for the
'completely agree' response was added up
in order to assess priority.
1.
"It is important to have an office or
premises" - 20% of respondents completely
agreed with this statement.
2. "It is important to have a staffed
telephone line" - 29% of respondents
completely agreed with the statement.
3. "It is important to put out a
newsletter"- 62% of respondents completely
agreed with the statement.
4. "It is important to offer
resources/factsheets" - 80% of respondents
completely agreed with the statement.
5. "It is important to offer information
sessions or special events for men and their
families" - 51% of respondents completely
agreed with the statement.
6. "It is important to offer information
sessions or special events for
professionals" - 53% of respondents
completely agreed with the statement.
81% of respondents reported they would donate
to support the resource service. 13 respondents
nominated $5 a year, 27 said that $10 a year was
what they would be prepared to donate, and the
rest nominated between $20 up to $50 a year.
4. Resource Development Focus
Based on the past four years experiences in
FTMA, resources were categorised according to
five groups (arranged below alphabetically) or
categories of audience.
Resources for -
- Legal Professionals
- Media
- Medical Professionals
- Men seeking treatment
- Partners and Family Members
Again, only the totals for the 'completely
agree' response was added up. Those with the
highest score to the lowest were arranged in
order of priority.
1.
"It is important to develop resources for men
seeking treatment" - 93% completely agreed
with this statement.
2. "It is important to develop resources
for medical professionals" - 74% completely
agreed with the statement.
3. "It is important to develop resources
for partners and family members"- 71%
completely agreed with the statement.
4. "It is important to develop resources
for legal professionals" - 67% completely
agreed with the statement.
5. "It is important to develop resources
for the media" - 57% completely agreed with
the statement.
Three extra items that the consultation
explored included statements regarding
Translated Resources, Contact with
other men and Linkage with
Professionals to increase awareness.
Translated
Resources
This query was phrased as "I would
personally access translated resources for my
family if these were available (which
language?)" with a blank line for the
translated language to be noted.
Upon completion of the consultation, it
was obvious that this item could have been
phrased better. Many participants indicated
they would access such resources to varying
degrees; many nominating the 'translated
language' to be English.
Four languages other than English were
identified by four separate respondents -
German, Maltese, Italian
and Spanish.
Contact with
other men
This item was phrased as "I'm not in
great need of support or help, but I want to
know other men like myself are available if I
need them" and was included to check on
the level of demand for contact with other
men should a man decide he required that.
While responses for this item was more
mixed than other items, almost half of the
respondents indicated they would
'completely agree' with the statement
and a further 20% only one level down from
'completely agree'.
Linkage with
Professionals to increase
awareness
The final item posed the statement "It
is important to develop more linkage with
professionals to further awareness of men
like myself" with 60% of respondents
indicating they 'completely agree'
with the statement.
Conclusions
The 35% response rate for this 'Future
Options' consultation was above the usual
response rate for surveys, which tend to receive
about a 10-20% response rate. Based on this
encouraging response combined with the 90%
response that a resource service should
continue, there is little doubt that support for
the offer of an ongoing resource service is
extremely high. The publishing of resources was
also highly supported with 74% of respondents
indicating total agreement towards that end.
Activities for a resource service were
identified as resources and factsheets
(80% completely agreed), a newsletter
(62% completely agreed), information
sessions or special events for professionals
(53% completely agreed), and information
sessions for men and their families (51%
completely agreed).
It was unexpected to see the staffed
telephone line item and
office/premises item rated so low. These
items would enable improved levels of assistance
to men, their families and professionals
including publication, resource development and
information sessions.
Based on this consultation Men's Ts
Resources will focus on the following
activities in order of priority
- Developing resources and factsheets
- Publishing a newsletter for MTRA
- Offering information sessions/special
events for professionals and
- Offering information sessions/special
events for men and their families.
Resource development priorities were
identified as resources for men seeking
treatment (93% completely agreed),
resources for medical professionals (74%
completely agreed), resources for partners
and family members (71% completely agreed),
resources for legal professionals (67%
completely agreed) and resources for
media (57% completely agreed).
Men's Ts Resources will focus on
developing resources for the following audiences
in order of priority
- for men seeking treatment
- for medical professionals
- for partners and family members
- for legal professionals and media
The remaining three items (Translated
Resources, Contact with other men and
Linkage with Professionals to increase
awareness) offer further guidence for
activity of a resource service, yet do not
define particular priorities.
The four languages nominated through the
consultation - German, Maltese, Italian
and Spanish - will be the first alternate
languages when resources can be translated. It
is worthwhile knowing that at least half the
respondents would make contact with men like
themselves should they want that; and that at
least 61% of respondents are supportive of
linkage with professionals to improve
awareness of the existence of men identified
'female' at their birth.
