OBJECTIVE: To examine the meaning of participating at a rehabilitation clinic in the lives of men with chronic pain. METHODS: The material consists of qualitative interviews with 10 Norwegian men with chronic neck pain, and was analyzed using narrative method, combined with a gender sensitive perspective. RESULTS: With references to 'identification of a cause' and 'rebuilding physical strength', the significance of medical expertise initially seemed to be linked to restoring bodily function. In the men's individual lives, however, the meaning of being in rehabilitation extended far beyond achieving manifest treatment goals and was also linked to profound human needs, such as to (re)build a self, to be comforted and connected to others. CONCLUSION: As rehabilitation clinics may provide a legitimate space in which men's experiences of pain are 'housed', they may constitute significant sources for restitution work, as well as significant shelters against social accusation that they are not really sick. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: We suggest that health professionals should be aware of the social significance rehabilitation clinics may represent for men living with chronic pain.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the meaning of participating at a rehabilitation clinic in the lives of men with chronic pain. METHODS: The material consists of qualitative interviews with 10 Norwegian men with chronic neck pain, and was analyzed using narrative method, combined with a gender sensitive perspective. RESULTS: With references to 'identification of a cause' and 'rebuilding physical strength', the significance of medical expertise initially seemed to be linked to restoring bodily function. In the men's individual lives, however, the meaning of being in rehabilitation extended far beyond achieving manifest treatment goals and was also linked to profound human needs, such as to (re)build a self, to be comforted and connected to others. CONCLUSION: As rehabilitation clinics may provide a legitimate space in which men's experiences of pain are 'housed', they may constitute significant sources for restitution work, as well as significant shelters against social accusation that they are not really sick. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: We suggest that health professionals should be aware of the social significance rehabilitation clinics may represent for men living with chronic pain.