Clinicians
Health care providers, educators, coaches, and other trusted adults have a powerful opportunity to engage adolescent and young adult males by recognizing and responding to their unique health needs.
These young men are often overlooked in preventive care, despite facing distinct challenges, including higher rates of injury, substance use, certain mental health disorders like ADHD and suicide, and sexually transmitted infections. By becoming more attuned to these sex-specific patterns, professionals across all sectors can help bridge a long- standing gap in care. This isn’t just about treating illness—it’s about creating environments where young men feel seen, heard, and supported in making informed decisions about their well-being. When trusted figures show genuine understanding of male-specific health concerns, they unlock a critical pathway to empowerment.
Whether it’s a doctor addressing sexual health with openness and respect, a coach encouraging mental wellness as part of athletic strength, or a teacher reinforcing the importance of sleep and nutrition, these messages resonate deeply. Awareness leads to engagement, and engagement leads to action. Equipping adolescent and young adult males with knowledge and agency over their health allows them to carry those habits into adulthood. Ultimately, meeting them where they are—physically, emotionally, and culturally—transforms routine care into a powerful moment of connection and growth.Addressing male sexual health also requires a focus on the broader context of sexual consent, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Young males often receive inconsistent or inadequate education about consent, which can lead to confusion about personal boundaries and respectful sexual behavior. Furthermore, adolescent and young adult males who identify as LGBTQ+ face additional risks and stigma, including higher rates of discrimination and barriers to care. Promoting inclusive, comprehensive sexual education that affirms diverse gender and sexual identities while emphasizing the importance of mutual consent is essential for reducing risk and fostering healthy, respectful relationships among all youth.
Resources
AYA Male Health Expert Faculty Program
A self-reflection tool designed to help patients prepare for a healthcare visit by thinking about their physical, mental, and sexual health. Covers topics like safety, substance use, emotions, relationships, and consent.
Risk Assessment Tools
A self-reflection tool designed to help patients prepare for a healthcare visit by thinking about their physical, mental, and sexual health. Covers topics like safety, substance use, emotions, relationships, and consent.
Sex and the
Male College Athlete
This brochure addresses the overlooked sexual health risks and misconceptions among college-aged male athletes, emphasizing routine STI screening, safe sex practices, and tailored education to improve health outcomes.
Young Male Health
Fast Facts
The Young Male Health: Fast Facts series provides concise, evidence-based snapshots of critical health issues disproportionately affecting adolescent and young adult (AYA) males ages 10–27. These briefs are designed to raise awareness among healthcare providers and
support more informed,
gender-sensitive care.
Talking to Parents
About HPV
Talking to parents of young males about the importance of the HPV vaccine requires sensitivity, clear communication, and an understanding of the concerns parents may have.
AYA Male Health Expert Faculty Program
In recent years, PMY has developed and supported several programs with a dual purpose: to raise awareness among clinicians as well as the public, parents and caregivers about the importance of this issue, and to provide them with the resources and means to address it, through, among other things, education.
The success of any national effort to raise awareness is dependent upon a group/team of healthcare experts that can credibly address the issue at hand. Reflecting the need for greater awareness on AYA male health among clinicians, parents and other caregivers, up until PMY’s recent efforts there was a relative dearth of faculty to address this issue. To that end PMY has, in recent years, reached out to those professionals who are experts in AYA male health, to engage them in PMY’s efforts to educate clinicians and other caregivers on the subject.
This faculty, now organized, is groundbreaking. PMY has worked with that faculty to develop curricula that would be appropriate for audiences composed of health care providers, parents and other caregivers. No other organization has taken on this task. Hence, PMY has launched its AYA Male Health Expert Faculty Program.
Based on PMY’s educational experience the program initially includes the following AYA male health subjects, which reflect the conditions for which AYA males are at greater risk:
Mental health (ADHD, depression, suicide, etc.),
Substance use disorders,
Body image and eating disorders,
Sexual health and sexuality,
Relational health and positive youth development,
HIV and STIs,
Vaccinations,
Contraception.
The target audience for the program, in addition to parents and other caregivers, is health care providers, which include pediatric, adolescent, family medicine, emergency medicine and primary care providers, nurse practitioners, nurses and other healthcare providers in settings that include medical practice (public and private), schools, and emergency rooms. These are target rich environments for advancing AYA male health.
For more information about available faculty and curricula, contact Dennis Barbour, PMY President and CEO, at dbarbour@partnershipformaleyouth.org.
Risk Assessment Tools
Health is Power
This instrument is a companion piece to Your Health is Your Power, a self-assessment tool for adolescent males to get them thinking about issues related to sexual health, immunizations, and other issues such as mental health. Questions and discussions on this checklist should be done in addition to guidelines or recommendations for the physical examination and routine history taking that apply to all adolescents.
Your Health is Your Power
A simple self-check guide that helps boys and young men think about their health before a doctor visit. Covers physical, emotional, and sexual health, with questions about safety, substance use, relationships, and more, encouraging honest reflection and empowering young men to take charge of their well-being.
Sex and the Male College Athlete
The Partnership for Male Youth’s 2024 brochure highlights the critical importance of sexual health awareness among adolescent and young adult (AYA) male athletes, particularly in college settings. Research shows these young men often engage in high-risk sexual behaviors while holding misconceptions about STIs and prevention methods. The brochure outlines the prevalence and symptoms of common STIs, encourages regular screening, and promotes access to healthcare through campus resources, telehealth, and PrEP for HIV prevention. It aims to equip healthcare professionals with the insights necessary to better counsel and support this population.
Young Male Health:
Fast Facts
The PMY Fast Facts series highlights the urgent, underrecognized health risks facing adolescent and young adult males. Topics include mental health, substance use, body image and eating disorders, sexual and reproductive health, and violence and trauma. Each brief underscores how AYA males often "age out" of pediatric care without a clear entry into adult medicine—leading to major gaps in screening, diagnosis, and support. Clinicians are encouraged to recognize the unique presentations and risk profiles in young males (such as externalized depression, high-risk sexual behavior, or disordered bulking practices), and to create more accessible, affirming pathways to care.
These factsheets serve as both awareness tools and practical guides for improving outcomes in this underserved population.
Body Image and
Eating Disorders
Substance Use Disorders
Violence and
Trauma
Sexual and Reproductive Health
Mental
Health
Talking to Parents
About HPV
Clinicians play a key role in increasing HPV vaccination rates among boys. This guide outlines how to talk with parents using clear, confident messaging that normalizes the vaccine, emphasizes its cancer-prevention benefits, and addresses common concerns. Recommendations include starting conversations early (ages 9–12), highlighting gender-specific risks, providing real-world examples, and sharing evidence-based resources. By offering strong, empathetic guidance and reliable follow-up, providers can help ensure more young males are protected against HPV-related cancers.