Lessons learned from engaging men in sexual and reproductive health as clients, partners and advocates of change in the Hoima district of Uganda

This study examined the impact of a three-year intervention project conducted in the Hoima district of Uganda, which sought to engage men in sexual and reproductive health as clients, equal partners and advocates of change. Structured surveys with 164 self-reported heterosexual men aged 18-54 years were used to assess knowledge and attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health. Data from these were analysed using Stata and SPSS. Additionally, five focus groups were conducted with the female partners and male beneficiaries of the project and with project peer educators. Four interviews were conducted with project staff and male beneficiaries. Data from these and the focus groups were analysed using a thematic approach. Following the intervention, a significantly greater number of men accessed, and supported their partners in accessing sexual health services services, had gained sexual and reproductive health awareness, reported sharing domestic duties and contraceptive decision-making, and displayed a decreased tolerance for domestic violence. It was more difficult to assess men's involvement and behaviours as advocates of change, which sheds light on the complexities of a gender transformative project and the importance of evaluating such projects from both men's and their partners' perspectives and at different levels of the male involvement model in sexual and reproductive health

Developmental psychology · Environmental health · Focus group · Intervention (counseling · Population · Qualitative research · Reproductive health · Reproductive rights · Sexual and reproductive health and rights · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Transformative learning · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Gerontology

• Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Africa

  Open Access•Ebenezer Durojaye, Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi et al.•Advancing Sexual and Reproductive…•2021

  Incluir item

• Fathers who care and those that don’t

  Open Access•Robert Morrell, Kristin Dunkle et al.•Society in Transition•2016

  Incluir item

• Missing men with tuberculosis

  Open Access•Jeremiah Chikovore, Madhukar Pai et al.•BMJ Global Health•2020

  Incluir item

• Men in the Movement

  Latrice Rollins, Petrice Sams-Abiodun•Social Work in Public Health•2025

  Incluir item

• Factors associated with use of community-based, peer-led sexual and reproductive health services by adolescent boys and young men aged 18–24 in Lusaka, Zambia

  Open Access•Mwelwa Phiri, B Hensen et al.•PLOS Global Public Health•2023

  Incluir item

• “A sweet in a polythene is not sweet”

  Open Access•Amrita Namasivayam, Philip J Schluter et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2025

  Incluir item

• Children and Peace

  Open Access•Nikola Balvin, Daniel J Christie•Children and Peace•2020

  Incluir item

• MenCare+ in South Africa

  Harald Kedde, Kerryn Rehse et al.•Sex Education•2018

  Incluir item

• A qualitative investigation of facilitators and barriers to DREAMS uptake among adolescents with grandparent caregivers in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

  Open Access•Dumile Gumede, Anna Meyer-Weitz et al.•PLOS Global Public Health•2022

  Incluir item

• Understanding the contextual and cultural influences on women’s modern contraceptive use in East Uganda

  Open Access•Amrita Namasivayam, Philip J Schluter et al.•PLOS Global Public Health•2022

  Incluir item

• Understanding the meanings of male partner support in the adherence to therapy among HIV-positive women

  Open Access•Isotta Triulzi, Carolyn Somerville et al.•Global Health Action•2022

  Incluir item

• The gender dimensions of social networks and help-seeking behaviors of young adults in Soweto, South Africa

  Open Access•Kathryn Meagley, Brittany Schriver et al.•Global Health Action•2016

  Incluir item

• Assessing progress in gender-transformative sexual and reproductive health interventions

  Open Access•T K Sundari Ravindran, Tk Sundari Ravindran et al.•Global Health Action•2026

  Incluir item

• Married couples’ dynamics, gender attitudes and contraception use in Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR

  Open Access•Ketmany Chanthakoumane, Charlotte Maguet et al.•Global Health Action•2020

  Incluir item

• Exploring influence and knowledge on family planning among internally displaced men

  Open Access•Chol Peter Bak, Michelle Lokot et al.•Conflict and Health•2026

  Incluir item

• Evaluation of a male engagement intervention to transform gender norms and improve family planning and HIV service uptake in Kabale, Uganda

  Open Access•Elena Ghanotakis, Theresa Hoke et al.•Global Public Health•2016

  Incluir item

• Perceived Social Influences on Women's Decisions to use Medications not Studied in Pregnancy. A Qualitative Ethical Analysis of Preexposure Prophylaxis Implementation Research in Kenya

  Open Access•Kenneth Ngure, Susan Brown Trinidad et al.•Journal of Empirical Research on…•2021

  Incluir item

• Integrated cervical cancer screening in Mayuge District Uganda (Aspire Mayuge)

  Open Access•Carolyn Nakisige, Jessica Trawin et al.•BMC Public Health•2020

  Incluir item

• Factors affecting utilization of male sexual and reproductive health services

  Open Access•Nwamaka Alexandra Ezeonu, Nkiru Ezeama et al.•BMC Public Health•2025

  Incluir item

• Men’s perceptions of sexual and reproductive health education within the context of pregnancy and HIV in Zambia

  Open Access•T F L Matenga, Joseph Mumba Zulu et al.•BMC Public Health•2021

  Incluir item

• An invitation to decoloniality in work on (African) men and masculinities

  K Ratele•Gender Place & Culture•2020

  Incluir item

• Including Men in a Female Financial Model

  Open Access•Linda Nakato•European Journal of Development…•2023

  Incluir item

• Men with Money and the “Vulnerable Women” Client Category in an Aids Epidemic

  Open Access•Michelle Poulin, Kathryn Dovel et al.•World Development•2016

  Incluir item

• When you visit a man you should prepare yourself’

  Lesley Gittings•Culture Health & Sexuality•2016

  Incluir item

• Youth experiences in accessing sexual healthcare services in Vietnam

  Anh Hoang, Chinh Quoc Nguyen et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2018

  Incluir item

• Addressing social and gender norms to improve uptake of maternal health services in Mali

  Jennifer Kuzara, Anne Woodriff Sprinkel et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2018

  Incluir item

• Male Participation in Family Planning

  Open Access•Angela Kaida, Walter Kipp et al.•Journal of Biosocial Science•2005

  Incluir item

• Qualitative Researching with Text, Image and Sound

  Martin Bauer, George Gaskell et al.•Qualitative Researching with…•2000

  Incluir item

• Gender and global health

  Open Access•Sarah Hawke, Sarah Hawkes et al.•The Lancet•2013

  Incluir item

• Gender attitudes, sexual power, HIV risk

  Michelle R Kaufman, T Shefer et al.•AIDS Care•2008

  Incluir item

• Questioning gender norms with men to improve health outcomes

  Open Access•Gary Barker, Christine Ricardo et al.•Global Public Health•2009

  Incluir item

• Men behaving differently

  L Walker•Culture Health & Sexuality•2005

  Incluir item

• Men's attitudes to condoms and female controlled means of protection against HIV and STDs in south-western Uganda

  Robert Pool, Graham Hart et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2000

  Incluir item

• The Social Construction and Context of Domestic Violence in Wakiso District, Uganda

  Dan K Kaye, Florence Mirembe et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2005

  Incluir item

• Raging hormones, domestic incompetence, and contraceptive indifference

  Lisa Campo-Engelstein•Culture Health & Sexuality•2013

  Incluir item

• Masculinity ideology, male reference group identity dependence, and African American men's health-related attitudes and behaviors

  Jay C Wade•Psychology of Men & Masculinity•2008

  Incluir item

• The HIV Blind Spot

  Open Access•Tim Shand, Hayley Thomson-de Boor et al.•IDS Bulletin•2014

  Incluir item

• The Social Conditions for Successful Peer Education

  Open Access•F Cornish, Catherine Campbell•American Journal of Community…•2009

  Incluir item

• Currents against gender transformation of South African men

  K Ratele•NORMA•2014

  Incluir item

• Realist randomised controlled trials

  Open Access•Chris Bonell, Adam Fletcher et al.•Social Science & Medicine•2012

  Incluir item

• From Hegemonic Masculinity to the Hegemony of Men

  Open Access•J Hearn•Feminist Theory•2004

  Incluir item

• Gender Equality in the Abstract and Practice

  Open Access•K Ratele•Men and Masculinities•2014

  Incluir item

• The Use of Sexual History Narratives to Assess Processes of Hegemonic Masculinity among South African Men in the Context of HIV/Aids

  Open Access•Eliezer Stern, Alice Clarfelt et al.•Men and Masculinities•2015

  Incluir item

• Impact of a Gender-Transformative HIV and Antiviolence Program on Gender Ideologies and Masculinities in Two Rural, South African Communities

  Open Access•Shari L Dworkin, Abigail M Hatcher et al.•Men and Masculinities•2013

  Incluir item

• Hegemonic Masculinity/Masculinities in South Africa

  Open Access•Robert Morrell, Rachel Jewkes et al.•Men and Masculinities•2012

  Incluir item

• The use of culturally themed HIV messages and their implications for future behaviour change communication campaigns

  Open Access•Oleosi Ntshebe, Joseph M N Pitso et al.•SAHARA-J Journal of Social…•2006

  Incluir item