The role of masculinities in psychological and emotional help seeking by men with prostate cancer

Abstract

Objective: To assess the impact of demographic characteristics and masculinities on seeking support for psychosocial care needs in men with prostate cancer.Methods: Prostate cancer survivors (n = 225) completed mail-out surveys measuring psychological care needs, masculinities, and psychological and emotional help-seeking intention and behaviour at 6-and 12-month follow-ups. Results:Older age was associated with seeking help from a general practitioner (GP), χ 2 (1,225) = 4.72, P = .03, and being born overseas was associated with seeking peer support (1,225) = 7.13, P = .01. Men with higher levels of optimistic action who reported moderate to high unmet psychological need were less likely to seek help for psychological and emotional concerns at 6-(odds ratio [OR] = 0.06, confidence interval [CI], 0.01-0.46) and 12-month (OR = 0.13, CI, 0.26-0.65) follow-ups.Conclusions: Optimistic action may explain why some men with prostate cancer fail to seek help for their psychological care needs. Clinicians should be aware that men with chronic illness who appear to approach challenges with optimistic action may in fact be less likely to seek psychological help when needed. K E Y W O R D Smasculinities, prostatic neoplasms, psychooncology, psychosocial support systems

The impact of long‐term androgen deprivation therapy on cognitive function and socioeconomic decision making in prostate cancer patients

“…It therefore needs to be emphasized that the negative side effects of ADT cannot outweigh the benefits of ADT on the course of advanced prostate cancer. Nevertheless, the findings may support the recommendations of recent literature that showed that clinicians should be aware that some androgen‐deprived prostate cancer patients develop neurocognitive impairments, yet fail to seek psychological help, 40 although it may be necessary in some cases.…”

Contemporary consumer perspectives on prostate cancer survivorship: Fifty voices

“…This issue is made more problematic by the lack of review‐based evidence for care coordination and surveillance for recurrence . Notably, participants in the present study eschewed traditional viewpoints associated with men avoiding thinking about their disease or desiring engagement in their care and this reinforces the need for a deep consideration of how models and expressions of masculinity influence prostate cancer care . Specifically, men‐centred care is deeply contextual and dynamic but includes a consideration of how health care services for men intersect with masculinity and in the context of this study with men's preferences for the design and delivery of prostate cancer survivorship care …”

“…16 Notably, participants in the present study eschewed traditional viewpoints associated with men avoiding thinking about their disease or desiring engagement in their care 30 and this reinforces the need for a deep consideration of how models and expressions of masculinity influence prostate cancer care. [31][32][33][34] Specifically, men-centred care is deeply contextual and dynamic but includes a consideration of how health care services for men intersect with masculinity and in the context of this study with men's preferences for the design and delivery of prostate cancer survivorship care. 35 By contrast participants expressed a desire to direct their survivorship experience and called for a system which included them, consulted with them and advocated broadly for them.…”

A systematic review of tools used to assess body image, masculinity and self‐esteem in men with prostate cancer

“…The final number of tools identified was 17. Of these, seven were modified versions of tools already identified, either using subscales, 4,8,[14][15][16] specific items, [17][18][19][20] removing specific items 21 or translating the tool to an alternative language. 22,23 There was one tool used to measure self-esteem, nine to measure masculinity, and seven to measure body image.…”

“…The Masculinity in Chronic Disease Inventory (MCD-I) was used in two studies. 16,58 The original tool was developed specifically for use with PCa patients (Table 3) the use of a 5 factor structure in future, which also showed sufficient structural validity according to the COSMIN criteria (Appendix 1). 65 One study used the "I am able to feel like a man" item from the FACT-P tool, developed by Esper et al 66 as an adjunct to the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT), 67 which has been used to date in over 26 000 patients.…”