Article

PURPOSE: To explore how gender appears in the stories of self-told by men and
women undergoing rehabilitation for chronic muscle pain. METHOD: The material,
which consists of qualitative interviews with 10 men and 6 women with chronic
neck pain, was analyzed from a gender sensitive perspective using narrative
method. The analysis was inspired by Arthur Frank's typologies of illness
narratives (restitution, chaos and quest).
FINDINGS: The women's stories
displayed selves that were actively trying to transcend their former identity and
life conditions, in which their pain was embedded. Their stories tended to
develop from "chaos", towards a quest narrative with a more autonomous self. The
selves in the men's stories appeared to be actively seeking a solution to the
pain within a medical context. Framed as a restitution narrative, rooted in a
biomedical model of disease, the voice often heard in the men's stories was of a
self-dependent on future health care. Our findings contribute greater nuance to a
dominant cultural conception that men are more independent than women in relation
to health care. CONCLUSION: Understanding the significance of gender in the
construction of selves in stories of chronic pain may help to improve the health
care offered to patients suffering from chronic pain. Implications for
Rehabilitation Patients tell stories that powerfully communicate their particular
illness experiences. Cultural expectations of femininity and masculinity play a
significant role with regard to how the patients construct their stories, which
may be important to health professionals' perceptions of the patients' problem.
Health care professionals should listen carefully to the patient's own story and
be sensitive to the significance of gender when trying to understand these
people's health problem.

Langue : ANGLAIS