Mid Sweden University

miun.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Notions About Men and Masculinities Among Health Care Professionals Working With Men’s Sexual Health: A Focus Group Study
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden;Region Västra Götaland, Knowledge Center for Sexual Health, Gothenburg, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9592-3358
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Department for Health Sciences, University West, Trollhättan, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2358-5086
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
2022 (English)In: American Journal of Men's Health, ISSN 1557-9883, E-ISSN 1557-9891, Vol. 16, no 3Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Health care professionals’ (HCPs) notions about gender may influence the provision and quality of care. If care-seeking men are met by HCPs holding idealized and stereotypical notions of masculinity, this could reinforce barriers to adequate care. This study explored notions about men and masculinities among HCPs working with men’s sexual health in Sweden. Focus group interviews with 35 HCPs from primary health and sexual health clinics were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The analysis resulted in three descriptive themes: (a) Contradictory masculinity—elusive but clear. Notions of masculinity as a phenomenon or concept were elusive, but masculine and un-masculine traits, behaviors, and qualities were clear. (b) Sexual health care is a social place where men and masculinities can be challenging. Male patients were associated with unwanted sexual tensions. Masculinity could challenge professionality. Seeking sexual health care was perceived as doing un-masculinity. (c) Regarding masculinity as irrelevant—a difficult ambition to achieve. Participants strived for gender-neutrality by regarding patients as humans, individuals, or patients rather than as men and masculine. The analysis also identified a theme of meaning: Notions of masculinity are situated relationally. HCPs situate masculinity in real and hypothetical relationships. Romantic and sexual preferences were used to define preferred masculinity. This study identified themes that showed how HCPs balanced professional and private notions of men and masculinity in their patient encounters. Increased gender awareness and training are needed to professionalize the management of gendered notions in encounters with men who seek care for sexual health problems.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2022. Vol. 16, no 3
Keywords [en]
masculinity, qualitative research, focus groups, sexual health, men’s health
National Category
Nursing Gender Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-45961DOI: 10.1177/15579883221101274OAI: oai:DiVA.org:miun-45961DiVA, id: diva2:1692180
Available from: 2022-09-01 Created: 2022-09-01 Last updated: 2022-09-01Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full text

Authority records

Tengelin, Ellinor

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Persson, TommyTengelin, Ellinor
In the same journal
American Journal of Men's Health
NursingGender Studies

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 33 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf