Exploring male partners experiences arising from supporting their spouses’ lifelong art

Abstract

Background: Men’s involvement during ANC/eMTCT plays a vital role in the safety of their female partners’ pregnancy and childbirth, by ensuring access to care, prevention of HIV transmission to the unborn child and provision of emotional and financial support to the spouse; but remains unacceptably low. Male involvement is influenced by the interaction between individual, families, peer, community and health system related factors. Therefore understanding the experiences of the supportive partners is important, so that existing eMTCT programs can identify and engage these men as allies in the care of women and their infants. Objective: The main objective of the study was to explore the experiences of male partners involved in their spouses’ lifelong ART at health facilities in Soroti district. Methodology: A qualitative cross sectional study design that adopted In-depth Interview was used to collect data among male partners involved in their spouses’ lifelong ART/Option B+ irrespective of their sero-status or backgrounds. Sample size of 13 participants used and it was determined using evidences from Guest, Bunce and Arwen (2006) that saturation often occurred around 12 participants in homogenous groups. Purposive sampling technique was used and consent was sought prior to data collection. Results: The experiences of male partners regarding their involvement were generally good because of supportive peers, family members and community members; healthcare provider initiatives i.e. counseling, health education and family support groups motivated them. The attitudes and the welcoming nature of the health facilities also encouraged their involvement. Generally, when men value the aspect of having a negative child and have a supportive environment, culture and traditional norms can be ignored or changed so that one can achieve the perceived benefit. Conclusion: Constructions of masculinity in patriarchal societies often limit the ways in which men engage in ANC/eMTCT, however such gendered division can be changed if men’s roles were looked at as beyond just being passive recipients of new knowledge, skills and awareness, but as clients and partners who have a responsibility to their own health and the health of the others.