Two Black men with prostate cancer: a narrative approach.
OBJECTIVE
This paper demonstrates the value of a narrative approach for health psychology. It focuses on the lives of two Black men with prostate cancer, drawn from a larger study investigating the links between masculinities and prostate cancer.


METHODS
The study was a qualitative, interview-based study. Each participant was interviewed four times.


METHODS
The men were asked to describe and discuss their prostate cancer experience, as well as their lives prior to illness. In order to gain a perspective on individual experiences of men with prostate cancer, we took a narrative approach to gathering and analysing data. Results are reported through two descriptive narratives.


CONCLUSIONS
The narratives of the men described in the paper show how the interaction of race with health and illness is neither predictable nor consistent at the individual level. Black men, like all men with prostate cancer, have diverse experiences and are influenced by a wide array of personal and societal factors. While the high risk of prostate cancer among Black men makes proactive interventions advisable, such interventions will be most effective if the heterogeneity of men's experiences are taken into account.
Gray
Ross E
RE
Psychosocial and Behavioural Research Unit, Toronto Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada. ross.gray@sw.ca
Fergus
Karen D
KD
Fitch
Margaret I
MI
D001294:Attitude to Health; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D033262:Narration; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*