"I have a pacemaker and hip replacement, but I'm up and running": rural Norwegian men's meanings related to health, body and physical activity

Abstract

The overall aim of this study is to create an understanding of how a heterogeneous sample of 18 men of different ages, education and ethnic backgrounds, living in or close to a rural town in Hedmark County in Norway, construct and express meanings related to health, body and physical activity. The data was compiled through individual in-depth interviews and analysed through a process informed by grounded theory. The aim of the study has been operationalized into four objectives: to understand how the participating men: 1) construct and express meanings related to health, 2) understand and express responsibility for health, 3) construct and express meanings related to their bodies, 4) construct and express meanings and values related to physical activity. The four papers that constitute this dissertation each answer to its respective objective.

Paper I: Hervik, S. E. and Fasting, K. (2014). ‘It is passable, I suppose’ – Adult Norwegian men’s notions of their own bodies. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. doi:10.1177/1012690214557709

Paper II: Hervik, S. E. K. and Thurston, M. (2016). ‘It’s not the government’s responsibility to get me out running 10 km four times a week’ - Norwegian men’s understandings of responsibility for health. Critical Public Health, 26(3), 333-342. doi:10.1080/09581596.2015.1096914

Paper III: Hervik, S. E. K. (in press). “Good health is to have a good life” – how middle-aged and elderly men in a rural town in Norway talk about health. International Journal of Men’s Health.

Paper IV: Hervik, S. E. K. and Skille, E. (2016). ‘I would rather put on warm clothes and go outdoors, than take off clothes to be indoors’ – Norwegian lay men’s notion of being outdoors during physical activity. Sport in Society, 1-15. doi:10.1080/17430437.2016.1179731