Health professionals' perceptions of a group intervention to address men's psychosocial distress

Abstract

Background: Men’s psychosocial distress rates are underestimated, and the reason may be linked to gender mandates which make them reluctant to seek help. Their distress and mental health problems, therefore, may be silenced and are being concealed from the health system. In this line, the Andalusian Public Health System (Spain) is currently developing an initiative to address psychosocial distress: the GRUSE (socio-educational groups) intervention. The study objective was to explore how health professionals perceived the impact of the intervention initiative on men experiencing psychosocial distress. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach was followed. Four focus groups took place between 2023 and 2024 in which health professionals participated (n = 37). A semi-structured script was used. Two researchers (interviewer and observer) implemented the groups, audio-recorded the discourses, and subsequently transcribed them for later analysis. Twenty-five codes were defined and sorted into five thematic categories. Results: The health professionals underscored the fact that hegemonic masculinity norms have negative effects on men’s health. They highlighted group intervention as a valuable and effective health system strategy to promote mental health based on a non-medicalising approach. The professionals stressed that the group presented the benefit of providing a platform for emotional containment, peer support, and the generation of networks. In addition, a change in the men’s attitude was observed after the intervention: though initially reluctant, they learned to seek help, without perceptions of male weakness. Conclusions: The health professionals recognised the benefits of the intervention for the male participants but found it difficult to initially engage and involve men. Therefore, the challenge is to design specific strategies to increase men’s participation and achieve greater overall effectiveness and social impact. It is important to consider the gender perspective when implementing this type of intervention and to train health professionals to ensure the non-reproduction of traditional gender roles.