Changed Men

The Embodied Impact of Prostate Cancer

Bibliographic Data

ID4643950
AuthorsDaniel Kelly (0000-0002-1847-0655, Middlesex University, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume19
Issue2
Pages151-163
Publication date2009-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1049732308328067
PMID19056697
OpenAlexW2101532245
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited21

Prostate cancer is a uniquely problematic male health issue. Findings from a study employing an ethnographic approach are presented to describe the ways in which 14 men's lives were changed as a result of this experience. The theoretical basis of the study centered on embodiment to explore the personal impact of prostate cancer, its treatment, and its side effects. The findings suggest that cancer was experienced sequentially, beginning at the time of diagnosis with the problematizing of the normally "silent" male body. This trajectory of experience progressed to emphasize the importance placed on treatment side effects, embodied vulnerability, and the impact of the cancer on men's "embodied" lives. In this article, I focus on the final phase of the illness experience and illustrate how the men confronted existential threat alongside physical changes, and the way each change resulted in a new outlook on life and its priorities following cancer

Cancer · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Ethnography · Existentialism · Political science · Prostate cancer · Sociology · Empathy and Medical Education · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Medicine · Obesity and Health Practices · Psychology · Gerontology

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