Abstract
BackgroundSex and gender have been shown to influence health literacy, health seeking behaviour, and health outcomes. However, research examining the links between gender and health has mainly focused on women’s health, which is a long-standing global health priority. We examine literature focused on the ‘missing men’ in global health research, in particular empirical studies that document interventions, programmes, and services targeting men’s health issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Within these studies, we identify dominant conceptualisations of men and men’s health and how these have influenced the design of men’s health interventions and services.MethodsThis is a scoping review of published and grey literature. Following comprehensive searches, we included 56 studies in the review. We conducted a bibliographic analysis of all studies and used inductive methods to analyse textual excerpts referring to conceptualizations of men and service design. An existing framework to categorise services, interventions, or programs according to their gender-responsiveness was adapted and used for the latter analysis.ResultsFrom the included studies, we distinguished four principal ways in which men were conceptualized in programs and interventions: men are variously depicted as ‘gatekeepers’; ‘masculine’ men, ‘marginal’ men and as ‘clients. Additionally, we classified the gender-responsiveness of interventions, services or programmes described in the studies within the following categories: gender-neutral, −partnering, −sensitive and -transformative. Interventions described are predominantly gender-neutral or gender-partnering, with limited data available on transformative interventions. Health systems design features – focused mainly on achieving women’s access to, and uptake of services – may contribute to the latter gap leading to poor access and engagement of men with health services.ConclusionThis review highlights the need for transformation in sub-Saharan African health systems towards greater consideration of men’s health issues and health-seeking patterns.
Highlights
Sex and gender have been shown to influence health literacy, health seeking behaviour, and health outcomes
The main reasons for excluding documents during full texts screening included: a) studies did not relate to, or focus on, men; b) results or findings were not disaggregated by sex, c) articles were not focused on health literacy or health seeking behaviour
The majority of studies carried out to date are descriptive in nature, they represent relatively equal proportions of qualitative and quantitative methods, broadly reflective of wider trends in relation to studies focused on appraising the relation of gender with health literacy and health seeking
Summary
Sex and gender have been shown to influence health literacy, health seeking behaviour, and health outcomes. The Cairo Population and Development conference in 1994 [13] allowed a focus on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) to emerge as a distinct ‘stream’ of donor funding and programmatic focus, leading to more concerted efforts to examine ways in which the SRH needs of women throughout the life cycle could be met through both stand-alone and integrated service delivery models. Within this context, it became evident that for women living in many countries, men’s involvement was important in enabling program effectiveness and impact in the areas of family planning, abortion, pregnancy care and maternal health [14]. Initiatives to strengthen men’s engagement with SRH programs have largely targeted and regarded men as partners or prospective fathers [15, 16]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
