Who is more likely to experience common disorders: men, women, or both equally? Lay perceptions in the West of Scotland

["Here (in Sydney) we are lost:" An ethnographic study of life satisfaction among urban aboriginal Australians participating in a community outreach program]

This ethnographic study was designed to explore living conditions among a group of aboriginal families residing in an urban context, who participated in a recreational social program. The aim of the study was to explore life satisfaction by analyzing their living conditions and cultural capital inscribed in established attitudes, perceptions, and lay knowledge. Fieldwork was carried out in two complementary phases: phase 1, between May 2008 and December 2010, began when the first listed author initiated volunteer work with the organization responsible for the program; in phase 2, which extended from January 2011 to February 2013, participant observation was intensified and semi-structured interviews were carried out. The results indicate that the process of cultural uprooting underscores the experience of social inequality, and suggest a cohort effect that continues to this day. This process of cultural (in)consonance must be taken into account as a key factor when analyzing the living conditions and well-being of ethnic minorities, as well as when developing programs and interventions.

Parental perceptions of the impacts the built environment has on young children׳s health: a qualitative examination and lay assessment amongst residents in four Scottish communities

The built environment is important for children׳s health and development. Qualitative research in four communities in Scotland explored with groups of parents of young children their lay perceptions of their local environment with specific reference to its impact upon their children׳s health. Valuing most strong supportive communities; good quality public spaces and social housing, parents׳ key concerns included anti-social behaviour, incivility and a range of locally-specific concerns. As knowledgeable key gatekeepers to children׳s use of home environments and public spaces, parent׳s qualitative lay input is important for the development of children׳s effective use of outdoor spaces and the built environment over the long term.

Exhausted women, tough men: a qualitative study on gender differences in health, vulnerability and coping with illness in Spain

This study analyses different perceptions by women and men, from different social backgrounds and ages, regarding their health, vulnerability and coping with illness, and describes the main models provided by both sexes to explain determinants for gender inequalities in health. The qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with women and men resident in Granada (Spain). The women rated their health worse than men, associating it with feelings of exhaustion. However, men tended to overrate their health, hiding their problems behind the 'tough guy' stereotype associated with masculinity. Both women and men shared the belief that women are more vulnerable, while men are weaker at coping with illness. The explanatory models offered for this paradox of 'weak but strong women' and 'tough but weak men' were different for each sex. Men used biological arguments more than women, centred on the female reproductive cycle. Women used more cultural models and identified determinants relating to social stratification, gender roles and power imbalances. In conclusion, gender constructions affect the health perceptions of both women and men at any social level or age. 'Exhausted' women and 'tough' men should form preferential target groups for intervention to reduce gender inequalities in health.

Men and women: beliefs about cancer and about screening

Background

Cancer screening programmes in England are publicly-funded. Professionals' beliefs in the public health benefits of screening can conflict with individuals' entitlements to exercise informed judgement over whether or not to participate. The recognition of the importance of individual autonomy in decision making requires greater understanding of the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs upon which people's screening choices are founded. Until recently, the technology available required that cancer screening be confined to women. This study aimed to discover whether male and female perceptions of cancer and of screening differed.

Methods

Data on the public's cancer beliefs were collected by means of a postal survey (anonymous questionnaire). Two general practices based in Nottingham and in Mansfield, in east-central England, sent questionnaires to registered patients aged 30 to 70 years. 1,808 completed questionnaires were returned for analysis, 56.5 per cent from women.

Results

Women were less likely to underestimate overall cancer incidence, although each sex was more likely to cite a sex-specific cancer as being amongst the most common cancer site. In terms of risk factors, men were most uncertain about the role of stress and sexually-transmitted diseases, whereas women were more likely to rate excessive alcohol and family history as major risk factors. The majority of respondents believed the public health care system should provide cancer screening, but significantly more women than men reported having benefiting from the nationally-provided screening services. Those who were older, in better health or had longer periods of formal education were less worried about cancer than those who had illness experiences, lower incomes, or who were smokers. Actual or potential participation in bowel screening was higher amongst those who believed bowel cancer to be common and amongst men, despite women having more substantial worries about cancer than men.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that men's and women's differential knowledge of cancer correlates with women's closer involvement with screening. Even so, men were neither less positive about screening nor less likely to express a willingness to participate in relevant screening in the future. It is important to understand gender-related differences in knowledge and perceptions of cancer, if health promotion resources are to be allocated efficiently.

The weaker sex? Exploring lay understandings of gender differences in life expectancy: a qualitative study

Despite increasing interest in gender and health, 'lay' perceptions of gender differences in mortality have been neglected. Drawing on semi-structured interview data from 45 men and women in two age cohorts (born in the early 1950s and 1970s) in the UK, we investigated lay explanations for women's longer life expectancy. Our data suggest that respondents were aware of women's increased longevity, but found this difficult to explain. While many accounts were multifactorial, socio-cultural explanations were more common, more detailed and less tentative than biological explanations. Different socio-cultural explanations (i.e. gendered social roles, 'macho' constraints on men and gender differences in health-related behaviours) were linked by the perception that life expectancy would converge as men and women's lives became more similar. Health behaviours such as going to the doctor or drinking alcohol were often located within wider structural contexts. Female respondents were more likely to focus on women's reproductive and caring roles, while male respondents were more likely to focus on how men were disadvantaged by their 'provider' role. We locate these narratives within academic debates about conceptualising gender: e.g. 'gender as structure' versus 'gender as performance', 'gender as difference' versus 'gender as diversity'.

The wealthy get healthy, the poor get poorly? Lay perceptions of health inequalities

Research repeatedly identifies an association between health and socio-economic status-richer people are healthier than poorer people. Richard Wilkinson has posited that socio-psychological mechanisms may be part of the explanation for the fact that socio-economic inequalities run right across the social spectrum in wealthy societies. He argues that polarised income distributions within countries have a negative impact on stress, self-esteem and social relations which, in turn, impact on physical well-being. How people experience and perceive inequalities is central to his thesis. However, relatively little empirical work has explored such lay perceptions. We attempt to address this gap by exploring how people see inequality, how they theorise its impact on health, and the extent to which they make personal and social comparisons, by drawing on 14 focus group discussions in Scotland and the north of England. Contrary to other research which suggests that people from more deprived backgrounds are more reluctant to acknowledge the effects of socio-economic deprivation, our findings demonstrate that, in some contexts at least, people from less favourable circumstances converse in a way to suggest that inequalities deeply affect their health and well-being. We discuss these findings in the light of the methodological challenges presented for pursuing such research.