Masculinity and Health in Late Life Men

Tannenbaum, Cara; Frank, Blye

doi:10.1177/1557988310384609

Cited by 69 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…The experience of RA and coping styles of men in factor A support the suggestion that men perceive ill health as a threat to their masculine identity, and addressing health concerns can challenge their health‐related beliefs of men being self‐reliant and resilient 20. However, dealing with health concerns can be perceived as taking action to gain control when men's health status begins to threaten their independence 21, which may be the cognitive mechanism being employed by the participants in factor A.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Coping Strategies, Psychological Impact, and Support Preferences of Men With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Multicenter Survey

Flurey

Hewlett

Rodham

et al. 2018

Arthritis Care & Research

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ObjectiveTo investigate the existence and distribution of 2 typologies (termed “factors”) of men with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) identified through our previous Q‐methodology study (n = 30) in a larger sample of men with RA, and whether differences in psychosocial impact or support preferences exist between the 2 factors, and between men and women with RA.MethodsA postal survey was sent to 620 men with RA from 6 rheumatology units across England, and the support preferences section of the survey was given to 232 women with RA.ResultsA total of 295 male patients (47.6%) and 103 female patients (44.4%) responded; 15 male participants had missing data, and thus 280 were included in the analysis. Of these, 61 (22%) were assigned to factor A (“accept and adapt”), 120 (35%) were assigned to factor B (“struggling to match up”), and 99 (35%) were unassigned. The two factors differed significantly, with factor B reporting more severe disease, less effective coping strategies, and poorer psychological status. For support, men favored a question and answer session with a consultant (54%) or specialist nurse (50%), a website for information (69%), a talk by researchers (54%), or a symptom management session (54%). Overall, women reported more interest in support sessions than men, with ≥50% of women reporting interest in nearly every option provided.ConclusionSome men accept and adapt to their RA, but others (43%) report severe disease, less effective coping, and poor psychological status. Men's preferences for support are practical, with a focus on expanding their knowledge.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Coping Strategies, Psychological Impact, and Support Preferences of Men With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Multicenter Survey

Flurey

Hewlett

Rodham

et al. 2018

Arthritis Care & Research

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“…However, a traditional cultural emphasis on male self-reliance embedded within concepts of masculinity may interact with the increasing need to rely on the assistance of others in the face of visual acuity declines, leading to reduced feelings of selfefficacy. 26,27 Lowered self-efficacy may, in turn, increase the likelihood that men are either more likely to report ADL declines or actually experience ADL reductions as they acquiesce to the increased challenges of functioning with declining vision. 27 Although highly speculative, indirect support for this process comes from one report from the MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging in which higher levels of instrumental support (typically thought to be beneficial), were predictive of the onset of ADL disability in older men.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal Relationships among Visual Acuity and Tasks of Everyday Life: The Salisbury Eye Evaluation Study

Lam

Christ

Zheng

et al. 2013

Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.

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PURPOSE. To study the relationships among visual and physical function trajectories of aging adults.METHODS. The community-based random sample consists of 2520 adults who were aged 65 to 84 years in 1993 to 1995 and reassessed 2, 6, and 8 years later. Presenting and best-corrected Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study visual acuity were obtained. Activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental ADLs (IADLs) were evaluated through survey instruments. Growth curve models were used to simultaneously estimate health trajectories and obtain associations among the trajectories while controlling for relevant covariates.RESULTS. Best-corrected acuity (logMAR) worsened by an average of 0.013 (~1 letter) annually. ADL difficulties increased by 0.22 standard deviations (SD) and IADL difficulties increased by 0.28 SD annually. Controlling for demographic and health covariates, visual acuity rates of decline correlated with rates of increase in ADL difficulties (r ¼ 0.15, P ¼ 0.05) and IADL difficulties (r ¼ 0.41, P < 0.001). Acuity loss was significantly related to increases in ADLs for men (b ¼ 0.039, P < 0.01), but not for women (b ¼ 0.001, P > 0.9). The direct effects of acuity loss were strongest for IADLs where a 1-unit decline in acuity (logMAR) was associated with a 0.067 SD increase in IADL difficulties (P < 0.001) at baseline, and a 1-unit acuity decline (logMAR) per year resulted in a 0.10 SD unit increase in the rate of change in IADL difficulties (P < 0.001) per year.CONCLUSIONS. Over time, increases in visual acuity loss were related to increased IADL difficulties in men and women and increases in ADL difficulties for men only. The findings support the importance of maintaining vision in older adults. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci.

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“…Will older men allow themselves to reinterpret the meaning of masculinity messages if a health threat calls for more effective behaviors that do not fit within hegemonic masculinity precepts? Tannenbaum and Frank (2011) explored this theme in a qualitative focus group study with 48 communitydwelling older men and then in a second study, a mail survey of 2,000 men aged 55 to 97. The focus group results in the first study indicate that health status can be used to permit more effective health-related behavior, even if that behavior is a threat to the stereotypical masculinity messages.…”

Section: The Influence Of Age On Masculinity and Men's Health-relatedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aging Men’s Health-Related Behaviors

Peak

Gast

2014

Sage Open

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ArticleThis review discusses the research on men and their healthrelated behaviors or health practices with special attention given to the influence of the hegemonic masculinity framework on men generally and aging men particularly. Of specific interest is consideration of whether men's health-related behaviors adjust as they age. How do biological, social, psychological, and behavioral factors interact and does that interaction affect men's health practices (Courtenay, 2002)? Is it possible for aging men to adapt concepts of masculinity and related masculine gender scripts to better meet their changing health needs in later life and still fit within their personalized construct of masculinity? If so, what influences these actions? In her landmark discussion of gender and health, Verbrugge (1985) suggests three broad categories as possibly influential-biological risks related to illness and disease, acquired risks associated with work and play activities, and psychosocial factors that include gender-influenced responses to these risk categories as well as overarching constructs such as hegemonic masculinity. We conclude with a discussion of a selection of interventions that focus on improvement of men's health education and health-related behaviors as well as suggestions for areas of future research. IntroductionCompared with women, men appear to be at higher risk at younger ages of morbidity and mortality, and it seems that men with the strongest masculinity beliefs are at the highest risk and least likely to engage in preventive health care behaviors (Bird & Rieker, 2008;Garfield, Isacco, & Rogers, 2008;Rieker & Bird, 2005;Springer & Mouzon, 2011). Well-entrenched beliefs about the way men should behave may stand in the way of more effective health-related actions and appropriate care. Indeed, it seems that "men are less likely than women to perceive themselves as being at risk for most health problems, even for problems that they are more likely than women to experience" (Courtenay, 2002, p. 2). Masculinity-derived beliefs either encourage men to engage in potentially harmful activities or to refrain from healthprotective behaviors (Williams, 2003). These masculinity beliefs do not simply reflect the biological risks that men have higher mortality rates than women for just about every illness that affects both genders except Alzheimer's disease, they also reflect that men seem to be attracted to risky behaviors more than women (Courtenay, 2000;Creighton & Oliffe, 2010;Lohan, 2007). Men smoke and drink more than women, are more prone to violence, are more likely to engage in sports with high injury rates, and are less likely to wear protective gear (e.g., helmets, seat belts, condoms; Addis, 2011;Giovanni, 2013). In fact, ". . . men are more likely than women to engage in over 30 health risk behaviors that increase the risk of disease, injury, and death . . ." (Mahalik & Burns, 2011, p. 1; see also, Courtenay, 2000). Another potentially risky health behavior common among some men is to ignore routine health sc...

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Masculinity and Health in Late Life Men

Cited by 69 publications

References 18 publications

Coping Strategies, Psychological Impact, and Support Preferences of Men With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Multicenter Survey

Coping Strategies, Psychological Impact, and Support Preferences of Men With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Multicenter Survey

Longitudinal Relationships among Visual Acuity and Tasks of Everyday Life: The Salisbury Eye Evaluation Study

Aging Men’s Health-Related Behaviors

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