Healthcare Professionals' Attitudes to Rehabilitation Programming for Male Cancer Survivors.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to describe and interpret the attitudes and conduct of hospital healthcare professionals (HCPs) in association with male cancer survivors and their municipal rehabilitation participation.

DESIGN: Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted, consisting of participant observation and nine semistructured focus group interviews with 58 hospital HCPs.

METHODS: Using interpretive description methodology with symbolic interaction as a theoretical framework, data were collected through fieldwork in three oncology wards in Denmark.

FINDINGS: Attitudes about both gender and rehabilitation were identified as overarching obstructions within hospital HCP conduct toward promoting men's participation in cancer rehabilitation.

CONCLUSIONS: Gender and rehabilitation perceptions formed barriers in this context, suggesting that male cancer survivors' rehabilitation outcomes may be compromised by HCP attitudes and conduct.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: These findings provide insight into approaches to guide HCPs to take responsibility for rehabilitation and to take gender into account in their work.