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Finnish governments have utilised a ‘stick and carrot’ approach to prolong work careers at the end by both increasing the official retirement age and offering financial incentives for people to work longer. This chapter explores Finnish male metalworkers’ and engineers’ thoughts regarding retirement and prolonging their careers in terms of how men’s motives change as they approach retirement age. Our interviews (conducted in 2010/2011 and 2017) indicated in both groups that the men had lost a great deal of their interest in work and most of them were ready to retire. Rather than focusing on their work ability, both metalworkers and engineers considered it important to secure sufficient health for life in retirement. Quite surprisingly, economic incentives did not seem to play a role in these men’s considerations of retirement in either of the groups, even despite the substantial income differences between them. Instead of additional money, the interviewees thought about their retirement plans in terms of health, mental wellbeing and work-related satisfaction. Our study suggests that future efforts to prolong work careers should therefore focus on improving working conditions and age-friendly work environments.

Eturauhassyöpä on miesten yleisin syöpä, johon sairastutaan yleensä vanhemmalla iällä. Monet elävät vanhalla iällä syöpähoitojen aiheuttamien sivuvaikutusten kanssa. Aiemmin on osoitettu, että ikä voi olla resurssi vakavan sairauden yhteydessä. Esimerkiksi sopeutumisen on todettu olevan helpompaa vanhemmille miehille. Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan, miten yli 65-vuotiaat eturauhassyöpäpotilaat tulkitsevat ikääntymistä ja ikää osana syövän sairastamista ja millaisiin asioihin ikä resurssina liittyy eturauhassyöpää sairastavilla miehillä. Aineisto koostui 35 yksilöhaastattelusta, jotka analysoitiin diskurssianalyysilla. Miehet asemoivat itsensä voimakkaasti ikämiehen positioon, josta käsin he kuvasivat syöpää pienenä vaivana, eivät henkeä uhkaavana sairautena. Positio oli mahdollista ottaa käyttöön kronologisesta iästä riippumatta. Ikämiehen positio auttoi tulkitsemaan eturauhassyöpää arkisena asiana ja hoitojen tuomia sivuvaikutuksia normaaleina ikääntymiseen liittyvinä muutoksina. Tutkimus vahvistaa aiemmissa tutkimuksissa esiin nostettua havaintoa siitä, että ikä toimii merkittävänä resurssina jäsennettäessä ikämiehen elämää ja arkea eturauhassyövän kanssa. “It just belongs to this age” – interpretations of ageing as part of living with prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. However, it rarely leads to death and thus many people spend their older years with cancer or treatment side-effects. Prior studies have illustrated that age can be a resource in the face of serious illness. For example, adaptation has been found to be easier for older men. This article examines how prostate cancer patients over the age of 65 interpret aging as part of living with cancer; and with what things age as a resource is associated. The data consists of 35 individual interviews, which were analyzed using discourse analysis. The men positioned themselves strongly as elderly men regardless of their chronological age. The position of an elderly man allowed them to describe cancer as a small ailment rather than a life-threatening illness. The study confirms that age can be a significant resource for living with prostate cancer.

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Introduction This study investigates comments that prostate cancer patients spontaneously write in the margins of the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Short Form (EPIC-26) questionnaire. We aim to show the possible barriers that patients face while answering the survey, and to consider how these barriers may affect the response data generated. We investigate the kind of information patients’ comments on EPIC-26 contain, and patients’ motivations to provide this information. We also study why some EPIC domains spark more comments than others. Method We analyzed 28 pages of transcribed comments and four pages of supplementary letters from our survey participants (n = 496). Using inductive content analysis, we generated 10 categories describing the content of participants’ comments, and four themes demonstrating their motives for commenting. The comments regarding each EPIC domain were quantified to discover any differences between domains. Results The sexual domain of EPIC-26 provoked over half of all comments. Patients without recent sexual activity or desire had difficulties answering sexual function questions 8–10. The lack of instructions on whether to take erectile aid use into account when answering erectile function questions led to a diversity of answering strategies. Patients with urinary catheters could not find suitable answer options for questions 1–4. All domains sparked comments containing additional information about experienced symptoms. Conclusion Patients are mainly willing to report their symptoms, but a lack of suitable answer options causes missing data and differing answering strategies in the sexual and urinary domains of EPIC-26, weakening the quality of the response data received.

BACKGROUND Localised prostate cancer affects patient's quality of life in many ways. The aim of this study was to explore factors related to self-rated health and life satisfaction for patients treated for prostate cancer, and to compare the results of these generic quality-of-life measures to the prostate cancer-specific quality-of-life measure (UCLA Prostate Cancer Index), which focuses on physical functioning. MATERIAL AND METHODS This cross-sectional survey was carried out among 183 men who underwent radical prostatectomy in 2012-2015 at a university hospital in Finland and were seen 1 year postsurgery. Approval from an ethics committee and written consents from participants were received. A questionnaire was used to evaluate patients' perceived quality of life. Logistic regression model, Spearman's correlation, Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U-test were used to analyse factors related to quality of life. RESULTS Of the 183 men in the study, 63% rated their health status as good, and 70% were satisfied with their lives after prostatectomy. Older age and better urinary function were the only factors that explained both better self-rated health and better satisfaction with life. The patients seemed not to interpret problems with sexual function as health-related problems. In our sample, sexual dysfunction was relatively severe, but patients considered them to be less harmful than urinary or bowel symptoms. Interestingly, 24% of the men with low sexual function did not find that dysfunction bothersome. CONCLUSIONS Objectively measured physical functioning is not necessarily in line with patients' experienced satisfaction with life and their self-ratings of health. More longitudinal and qualitative research is needed about the meanings that patients attach to physical treatment side effects and the extent to which they can adapt to them over time. With a bigger sample and longer follow-up time, it would be possible to identify men who particularly benefited from pretreatment counselling.

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Theories of inclusive masculinity and horizontal homosociality describe how previously marginalized forms of masculinity are becoming socially acceptable. Studies within these theoretical frameworks have largely focused on privileged groups of men and men’s changing attitudes towards homosexuality. This raises questions about the extent to which the theories apply to marginalized groups of men and other inequalities between men. In this article, we analyse ethnographic data from two Finnish older men’s communities that emphasize equality between men as an essential part of their ethos, and ask how inclusive practices and horizontal homosociality operate in these communities. Our intersectional analysis shows that older men’s communities may involve varying levels of inclusive practices that do not necessarily relate to sexuality but, instead, to other aspects of inequality. Future studies should consider the contextuality of men’s practices and the intersectional differences between men that are the subjects of these inclusive or exclusionary practices.

Eturauhassyövän seulonnan hyödyistä ja haitoista on käyty aktiivista keskustelua viime vuosina. Vaikka PSA-testi on laajasti käytössä terveydenhuollossa, väestötason seulontaa ei toistaiseksi suositella, sillä seulonnan haittoja pidetään hyötyjä suurempina. Seulonnan haittoja ovat ylidiagnostiikka ja siitä aiheutuvat ylimääräiset hoidot, jotka voivat heikentää miesten elämänlaatua. Artikkelissa tarkasteltiin paikallista eturauhassyöpää sairastavien miesten näkemyksiä seulonnan tarpeellisuudesta. Tutkimuksen aineisto koostui 28 eturauhassyöpää sairastavan miehen yksilöhaastatteluista. Analyysimenetelmänä käytettiin diskurssianalyysia. Suurin osa haastateltavista suhtautui myönteisesti väestötason seulontaan ja halusi parantaa miesten pääsyä PSA-mittauksiin. Seulonnan tarpeellisuutta perusteltiin argumenteilla, jotka liittyvät varhaisen diagnostiikan hyötyihin – kuten kustannusten säästymiseen ja kuolleisuuden vähentämiseen – tai miesten oikeuksiin ja sukupuolten tasa-arvoon. Tulostemme perusteella miehet ovat tietoisia seulontaan liittyvistä haitoista, mutta siitä huolimatta he ovat seulonnan käynnistämisen kannalla. Seulonta hahmotettiin miesten terveyden edunvalvontaan liittyvänä asiana.

Vertaisarvioitu. English summary Psykososiaalinen tuki ei ole vakiintunut osaksi syöpäpotilaan hoitoa useista terveyspoliittisista linjauksista huolimatta. Tutkimuksessa analysoidaan, kenen tehtäväksi erikoissairaanhoidon syövänhoidossa toimivat terveydenhuollon ammattilaiset hahmottavat psykososiaalisen tuen antamisen, kuinka potilaiden tukemista tulisi heidän mukaansa kehittää sekä millaiseksi he ymmärtävät järjestöjen roolin tuen antajina. Aineisto kerättiin asiantuntijahaastatteluin syövänhoidossa työskenteleviltä terveydenhuollon ammattilaisilta (n=20). Aineiston analyysi toteutettiin aineistolähtöisellä sisällönanalyysillä. Syövänhoidossa työskentelevät terveydenhuollon ammattilaiset pitivät psykososiaalisen tuen antamista tärkeänä, mutta tuen antamisen katsottiin vaativan erityistä ammattitaitoa ja nykyistä enemmän resursseja. Haastateltavien mielestä yliopistosairaalassa on vaadittavat tukipalvelut, mutta sairaalan sisällä työnjakoa ja tuen systemaattista tarjoamista tulisi kehittää. He toivoivat sairaalaan lisää henkilökuntaa, jonka työhön tuen tarjoaminen kuuluisi. Tällöin potilaiden tuen tarpeen kartoittaminen olisi automaattisesti osa diagnoosivaiheen hoitoa. Haastateltavat kuvasivat järjestöjen tarjoamaa tukea lisänä yliopistosairaalan tukipalveluihin. He korostivat, että järjestöjen tarjoaman tuen piiriin hakeutumisen tulisi perustua potilaan vapaaehtoisuuteen ja aktiivisuuteen. Haastatteluissa tuli esiin epäilyksiä järjestöyhteistyön tiivistämistä kohtaan. Tutkimuksen tuottamaa tietoa voidaan hyödyntää kehitettäessä syöpäpotilaan kokonaisvaltaista hoitoa. Terveydenhuollon ja järjestöjen välisten raja-aitojen madaltamiseksi tarvitaan lisää tietoa järjestöjen tarjoamista tukipalveluista. Erikoissairaanhoidon henkilöstölle tarvitaan selkeämpiä ohjeita potilaiden ohjaamisesta järjestöiden palveluiden piiriin. Näiden kahden tahon välistä koulutusta syöpäpotilaan psykososiaaliseen tukemiseen liittyen tulisi lisätä. Jatkossa järjestöissä työskentelevän henkilöstön näkemyksiä erikoissairaanhoidon ja järjestöjen välisestä yhteistyöstä sekä syöpäpotilaiden psykososiaalisesta tuesta tulisi kartoittaa.

Most citations to “hegemonic masculinity” focus on gender ideals and men’s attempts to justify domination. Few scholars have tested the theory that masculinity can be hegemonic in effect by gaining the overt consent of others to their domination. We specify this largely untested theory and use data from a pilot study of middle-age men for our demonstration of how to operationalize and recognize hegemony. We argue that scholars will find that effect at intersections of gender and other inequalities such as age. We show that, in their discussion of linked ideals of gender and age, three respondents mention domination of older men by younger men, and then both consent to that domination and accept personal responsibility for forestalling it through regimens of fitness, productivity, and health. We call for further research on the hegemony of masculinity via study of intersections of gender with such understudied inequities as age.

The neo-liberal ideologies that point to individual responsibility for risks increasingly influence countries of the global North. The anti-ageing industry reflects this dictate and encourages middle-aged people to use their products and services to manage their ageing. However, given the negative connotations attached to the term ‘anti-ageing’, which is usually seen to focus on aesthetics and thus be a woman's concern, men may be likely to disavow being involved in such activities. The article uses interview data collected from men aged 42–70 from Finland and the United States of America to explore whether and how men adhere to the call to manage their ageing when such anti-ageing activities are seen to be potentially feminising. We find that these men reflected neo-liberalism in the sense that they felt that, although ageing cannot be prevented, it can be controlled. Also while they generally rejected anti-ageing products and services that they judged to affect aesthetics, they reported that they use those that they define as promoting health and performance instead. For them, masculinity is the instrumental focus on performance to the exclusion of beauty or attractiveness. Masculine anti-ageing bodily strategies must also be ‘natural’, involving hard work rather than the use of products, which they regard as never having been scientifically proven to enhance performance. Thus, in talk of their anti-ageing, men distance themselves from women.

Hanna Ojalan väitöstutkimus Opiskelemassa tavallaan : vanhat naiset ikäihmisten yliopistossa (Tampereen yliopisto 2010).

Purpose We explore the motivations of middle-aged consumers of anti-aging products and services in relation to aging, health, and appearance. Admission of use of anti-aging products and services could align a respondent with a stigmatized group, old people, and also connotes a feminine concern with aesthetics. For these reasons, people, particularly men, will be unlikely to report using them for this purpose. Design and methods Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted among 19 men and women aged 42-61 years. Topics included their perceptions of bodily changes and their responses to these. We analyzed data qualitatively. Results Respondents frame their uses of anti-aging products in terms of health and appearance, not anti-aging per se. Both men and women see anti-aging as related to beautiful appearance and thus as a feminized activity. Both are concerned about appearance, but in gendered ways. Overall, respondents conflate bodily appearance, health, and aging in their constructions of anti-aging. Implications This conflation maintains inequality by stigmatizing old age as unhealthy and unseemly. Our results point to the limits of studying the consumption of anti-aging products and services if researchers ask only about anti-aging uses per se. They also point to the ways that discourses of health and appearance naturalize ageism, as they suggest that old age inheres in bodies that "naturally" decline and thus should be excluded.

Seuraava keskustelunavaus sukupuolesta suomalaisessa aikuiskasvatustutkimuksessa lähti liikkeelle omakohtaisesta ihmettelystä. Tunnemme joskus olomme hiukan yksinäisiksi aikuiskasvatustutkijoiden joukossa. Ihmettelemme, miksi meidän lisäksemme vain harvoja aikuiskasvatustutkijoita näyttää kiinnostavan sukupuoli, vaikka sen merkitys on alkanut saada yhä enemmän sijaa suomalaisessa kasvatustieteen ja työelämän tutkimuksessa. Päätimme tutkia, miten sukupuoli näyttäytyy esimerkiksi aikuiskasvatustieteen viroissa, alan väitöksissä tai Aikuiskasvatuksen tiedeartikkeleissa?

Väitöskirjan lumo : tohtoriksi valmistumisen vaiheet sekä sen tuki ja ohjaus ja / Kaarina Määttä (toim.). Rovaniemi, 2009.

Valta ja toimijuus aikuiskasvatuksessa / Anneli Eteläpelto, Tuula Heiskanen & Kaija Collin (toim.). [Helsinki] : Kansanvalistusseura, 2011.

Matkalla kohti omaa itseä : merkittävät oppimiskokemukset naisten subjektiviteetin rakentajina, Pauliina Merikivi, Tampere (2003)