Public Men’s Clinic: Men’s experiences of healthcare professionals and environment

Abstract

Background: Men often face social barriers linked to norms and systemic issues when engaging with public healthcare services. South Africa’s first Public Men’s Clinic (PMC) was established in 2020, and now, 20 more clinics operate across the country within traditional government clinics. Staffed mainly by male healthcare providers, they are tailored to address men’s health needs, but no published scholarly studies have yet reported on their environment or effectiveness in South Africa.
Aim: The authors aimed to investigate men’s experiences of healthcare professionals and the clinical environment at a South African PMC.
Setting: The study setting was a peri-urban PMC in a community health centre (CHC) in Sedibeng District, Evaton.
Methods: This qualitative descriptive phenomenological study collected data from 43 men through four in-person focus group discussions (FGDs). The findings were thematically analysed.
Results: Participants reported two themes from the FGD: (1) negative healthcare experiences at previous traditional clinics they had attended and (2) positive healthcare experiences at the PMC. Despite general challenges faced in the past at public healthcare facilities, they overwhelmingly reported improvement at the PMC.
Conclusion: Its conducive environment and helpful personnel made participants more comfortable and willing than before to engage with healthcare services.
Contribution: This study, the first scholarly study of men’s experiences of a South African PMC, offers a promising point of departure for broader, more wide-ranging investigations and a benchmark for service providers wishing to set up and run PMCs in their own facilities.