Qualities men value when communicating with general practitioners: implications for primary care settings
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the core qualities that men value when communicating with general practitioners in primary care settings. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: In a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews in non-clinical environments, 36 white Australian men drawn from the Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study, stratified by age and marital status, discussed their help-seeking behaviour and health service use. Participants were from the North West Adelaide region. Interviews were conducted between January and November 2005. RESULTS: The core qualities men value when communicating with GPs in primary care settings include the adoption of a "frank approach", demonstrable competence, thoughtful use of humour, empathy, and prompt resolution of health issues. CONCLUSIONS: The core qualities men value when communicating with GPs are concordant with most key dimensions of a patient-centred approach, but not necessarily all. Adopting these qualities has the potential to enhance communication with and care of men in primary care settings.
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Smith et al. (2008) identified limited time as a recurring concern of men in semi-structured interviews.
“Smith et al. (2008) also identified limited time as a recurring concern of men in their semi-structured interviews.”
From A systematic review of the factors associated with delays in medical and psychological help-seeking among men (2015) · cites this paper as Smith et al. (2008)
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- Authors
- Smith, J. A., Braunack‐Mayer, A. J., Wittert, G. A., & Warin, M. J.
- Affiliations
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- Durham University (GB)
- Venue
- Medical Journal of Australia
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2008-12
- Volume
- 189
- Issue
- 11-12
- Pages
- 618-621
- ISSN
- 0025-729X (ISSN-L)
- 1326-5377
- OpenAlex
- W2115030305
- Cited by
- 69
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 5.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- The Medical Journal of Australia (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Adelaide
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Primary Care and Health Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Male Reproductive Health Studies
- Keywords
- men's health, general practitioners, physician-patient communication, help-seeking, patient-centered care, empathy, male aging, primary care
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Australia, Communication, Empathy, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Men, Middle Aged, Physician-Patient Relations, Physicians, Family, Primary Health Care, Wit and Humor as Topic
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