Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113797

Derek M. Griffith, PhD¹, Michael Cotten², Anh N. Tran, MPH³, Mondi Mason, PhD, MPH⁴, Nathan D. Fearrington, MHS⁵, Earl Horton, BS⁶, Eugenia Eng, DrPH⁴, Michael O. Royster, MD, MPH⁷, and Janice Dodds, EdD, RD⁸. (1) Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 109 South Observatory, M2525, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, 734-936-1318, derekmg@umich.edu, (2) Chatham County Public Health Department, PO Box 126, Pittsboro, NC 27312, (3) Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina School of Public Health, CB #7440, Rosenau Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, (4) Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina, 323-B Rosenau Hall, CB# 7440, School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, (5) Efland Community Center, 117 Richmond Road, Mebane, NC 27302, (6) MAN for Health Project, Strengthening the Black Family, Inc., 568 E. Lenoir Street, P.O. Box 28715, Raleigh, NC 27611, (7) District Director, Crater Health District, Virginia Department of Health, 301 Halifax Street, Petersburg, VA 23803, (8) Department of Nutrition and Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB# 7461, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7461

Men are less likely than women to seek professional help, and there is agreement that the health of men in the U.S. is worse than that of women. Because African American men have the highest age-adjusted death rates and the shortest life expectancy of men in any race or ethnic group, their collective health has been deemed a ‘crisis'. One of the primary factors argued to be responsible for this health crisis is male gender socialization. African American men learn what it means to be both a man and African American in the same social context. Because gender is an identity defined through historical, social and cultural factors, male gender socialization occurs within unique contexts that provide a critical foundation for understanding help seeking among men. This presentation describes data from 38 rural and urban African American men in the South who participated in six focus groups. Racism, experiences with Jim Crow segregation, social norms, and economic factors were identified as critical barriers to men's willingness and ability to seek preventive or ameliorative care for a variety of health problems. Conversely, men relied heavily on their social networks for health information and social support, though these mechanisms were also barriers as they fueled questions of privacy and confidentiality. This presentation will highlight how these findings shaped a community-based participatory research intervention to promote preventive screening and healthcare among African American men by helping them redefine help seeking and unlearn certain messages about what it means to be a man.

Learning Objectives: Learning objectives

1.Understand the challenges and strengths of utilizing a community-based participatory research approach to understanding African American men’s health.
• Articulate the roles of male gender socialization and racial socialization in the help-seeking behavior of African American men.
• Discuss the implications of these findings for interventions to impact behavioral interventions for African American men.

Keywords: Minority Health, African American

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation