ABSTRACT
Compared to urban communities, rural communities often experience poorer health outcomes and more limited access to healthcare services, such as those provided by family physicians, specialists, and rehabilitation therapists (Canadian Institute for Health Information [CIHI], 2006; Meit et al., 2014; Pong et al., 2011). Poor health outcomes and healthcare accessibility issues are often exacerbated when services are centralized to larger urban centers in efforts to reduce system costs, streamline service delivery, and improve healthcare providers’ professional development (Brown, 2005). Such efforts to improve healthcare system efficiency are often made at the expense of rural communities where services are removed without a contingency plan to provide replacement services (Chase et al., 2010). These trends in rural healthcare service delivery often leave rural communities devoid of formal health or social support resources, and thus reinforce traditional rural social norms that value resilience and stoicism (Leipert, 2006). Resiliency and stoicism are core elements of traditional rural embodiments of masculinity that emphasize that a rural man ought to be tough, keep to himself, and avoid displays of emotion (Courtenay, 2006). Due to such individualistic and internalized values, efforts to embody traditional rural masculinity may negatively impact all aspects of a rural man’s health, as seeking healthcare services or engaging with informal social support networks challenges “tough individual” ideals (Courtenay, 2006).
