Recent research into mental wellbeing services for men suggests that a more gender-based approach to service development with a focus on self-care may improve the long-standing issues of a lack of help-seeking and poor adherence. This study aimed to develop a shared understanding of mental wellbeing and self-care tools in order to address the following research question:

“Through the use of participatory methods, what are young male student’s prerequisites for a relevant and engaging self-care centred mental wellbeing intervention in the context of a Higher Education Institution?”

The study employed a Participatory Design methodology combined with Visser et al.’s Contextmapping Framework. Semi-structured interviews and a generative workshop were used to develop a shared understanding of mental wellbeing (MW) and self-care tools among four male Glasgow-based student participants. The practice of user-centred design was used to create ethical and appropriate engagement for the research context, experience and design of research materials. Music listening, and mindfulness were used as examples of self-care tools and as activities to enable engagement around the topic of MW. The contextual understanding of MW and self-care tools collaboratively generated through this research was used to co-design a Higher Education Institution based MW intervention. A thematic analysis highlighted the importance of establishing MW routines built around the key themes of reflection, perspective and exploration, which are exemplified in the intervention concept. A set of recommendations are offered for practitioners and researchers seeking to engage young male students in supporting or researching MW, particularly within a HEI context.