Exploring Men's Health in the Context of their Daily Lives

Abstract

This thesis presents a literature review and data from individual interviews conducted with a total of 20 men in Southern Ontario and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. The objective of this qualitative study was to identify what these men consider to be their main health problems, and what they consider to be the main health problems of Canadian men in general. In addition, this study explored the ways in which the men understand health and the particular health problems they experienced. Several general trends emerged in the data. Respondents described health in both physical and mental terms. They associated physical health predominantly with lifestyle in the form of adequate activity/exercise, diet, and balance of activities. Mental health was associated with state of mind. Insofar as respondents worried about their health, they were concerned about developing physical health problems such as prostate and testicular cancer. However, the day-to-day problems that they actually experienced were low level mental health problems such as stress and tiredness. Data analysis revealed a broader underlying theme of control. In particular, respondents' explanations of health reflected their ability to control the onset of many health problems by living a healthy lifestyle. Yet, social structural influences, specifically work and gender roles, did not always afford these men control over health-related problems such as stress. Respondents explained the health of Canadian men in terms of lifestyle (reflecting control over health), and by unknown etiology (reflecting lack of control over diseases such as cancer). Review of the research findings identifies gaps in research and offers suggestions for further studies.