Identify the needs, barriers to men’s care

Identify the needs, barriers to men’s care

• From adolescence on, most men need information and counseling about sexual and reproductive matters, and they need somewhere reliable to go for related education and health care.

• There is no commonly agreed upon definition of sexual and reproductive health care for men, and many barriers impede the provision of such care.

• Obstacles to care include the tendency of many men not to seek regular, routine checkups; the fact that health insurance often does not cover the services men need; and the high proportions of men — particularly poor men — who do not have health insurance.

• Few health professionals are specifically trained to provide men with sexual and reproductive health education and services.

• The older men get, the more likely they are to need medical sexual and reproductive health services rather than information.

• At all ages, sexually active men, particularly those who do not use a condom and have multiple partners, need regular screening for sexually transmitted diseases.

Source: Alan Guttmacher Institute. In Their Own Right: Addressing the Sexual And Reproductive Health Needs of American Men, New York City; 2002.