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    ‘‘What a dog will see and kill, a cat will see and ignore it”: an exploration of health-related help-seeking among older Ghanaian men residing in Ghana and the United Kingdom.

    Alidu, L. and Grunfeld, Elizabeth Alice (2020) ‘‘What a dog will see and kill, a cat will see and ignore it”: an exploration of health-related help-seeking among older Ghanaian men residing in Ghana and the United Kingdom. British Journal of Health Psychology 25 (4), pp. 1102-1117. ISSN 1359-107X.

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    Abstract

    Background: Healthcare utilization rates are lower among men, however, little is known about how men’s healthcare utilization is affected by migration. The aim of this study was to explore health-related help-seeking decisions among older Ghanaian men residing in the United Kingdom and in Ghana. Methods: Twenty-six men aged 50 years or over were recruited from community locations within two large cities in the UK and Ghana. Face to face semi-structured interviews were undertaken to explore the illness and help-seeking experiences of older men. Results: Help-seeking experiences differed among the Ghanaian men living in the UK and in Ghana. Three themes were identified that impacted on help-seeking decisions: (1) pluralistic approaches to managing health and illness and (2) perceptions of formal health services in Ghana and UK and (3) financial constraints and masculinity norms as barriers to help-seeking. Conclusion: This is the first study to look at help-seeking decisions among older men residing in the UK and Ghana. Findings highlight how older migrant men’s explanatory models of their health encompass enduring faith-based beliefs around causation of illness and approaches to management, as well as the use of pluralistic approaches to managing health. This study supports the call for culturally sensitive community-based interventions to increase engagement and facilitate improved health outcomes for migrant populations, particularly older men.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the article, which has been published in final form at the link above. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences
    Depositing User: Beth Grunfeld
    Date Deposited: 16 Jun 2020 16:50
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 18:00
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/32234

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