Sexual health for sexual minority men after prostate cancer treatments

Dissertation research with two planned studies.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer among men in Sweden. Both the disease itself and its treatments affect the individual's sexual health in the form of, for example, erectile dysfunction, incontinence, or problems with bodily changes. Several foreign studies have shown that men with same-sex relationships and sexuality (MSM) experience more significant problems with sexual health after prostate cancer treatment. At the same time, it shows that care both nationally and internationally is heteronormative; it makes MSM invisible and provides men with care that does not look after men's needs or the unique challenges that MSM has. To date, few Nordic studies have been published regarding this group of individuals.

The purpose of this study is to describe the sexual health and perceived care for a group of men with same-sex relationships and sexuality.

Design: The study uses a mixed-methods design focusing on the qualitative component (quant> QUAL).

Data collection: Data will be collected with a symptom assessment forum tutorial and individual follow-up interviews. Participants will be recruited using a snowball sampling technique, and a target is 15-25 participants.Data analysis: Data is analyzed partly following their respective traditions and partly using the advantages of the mixed method: to contrast results and unite findings to something larger and further bring together interpretive and analytical strands. We will analyze data from the symptom assessment form with descriptive statistics, and analyze the interviews with content analysis.