Cardiovascular diseases are leading causes of premature mortality and disability. Although health institutions have developed and promoted cardiac rehabilitation programs, they have not attained their desired outcomes, especially among the most vulnerable groups of the population. This study qualitatively examines socially and materially deprived men’s (n = 20) noncompliance with cardiovascular health guidelines following a medical intervention to the heart. By drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s sociocultural theory of practice, results indicate that precarious living conditions obstruct long-term physical recovery and illness prevention by underemphasizing the value of “health capital” and reducing the capacity to sustain lifestyle change. This study calls into question health policies that have little to no consideration of embodied practical knowledge and lived experiences.
AlterDANaylorCDAustinP. (1999) Effects of socioeconomic deprivation on access to invasive cardiac procedures and on mortality after acute myocardial infarction. New England Journal of Medicine341(18): 1359–1367.
2.
BergerPLuckmannT (1966) The Social Construction of Reality. A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Doubleday.
3.
BergeronCDumasASavageM (2013) La réadaptation cardiaque en contexte de défavorisation matérielle et sociale. Revue de Moncton48(1–2).
4.
BeswickADReesKWestRRTaylorFCVictoryJBrownJEbrahimS (2005) Improving uptake and adherence in cardiac rehabilitation: Literature review. Journal of Advanced Nursing49(5): 538–55.
5.
BlanchetteR (2011) Hull, champs de bataille. À Babord. Revue Sociale et Politique40: 27–30.
6.
BlaxterM (2004) Health. Oxford: Polity Press.
7.
BoltanskiL (1971) Les usages sociaux du corps. Les Annales26(1): 205–233.
8.
BourdieuP (1984) Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
9.
BourdieuP (1986) [2004] The forms of capital. In: BallSJ (ed.) The Routledge Falmer Reader in Sociology of Education. New York: Routledge, pp. 15–29.
10.
BourdieuP (1990) The Logic of Practice. Cambridge: Polity Press.
BourdieuPWacquantLJD (1992) An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
13.
ChanRHMGordonNFChongA. (2008) Influence of socioeconomic status on lifestyle behavior modifications among survivors of acute myocardial infarction. American Journal of Cardiology102(12): 1583–1588.
14.
ClarkAMMacIntyrePDCruickshankJ (2007) A critical realist approach to understanding and evaluation heart health programmes. Health11(4): 513–539.
15.
ClarkAMWhelanHKBarbourR. (2005) A realist study of the mechanisms of cardiac rehabilitation. Journal of Advanced Nursing52(4): 362–371.
CourteauJPFinèsP (2004) Évolution de 1986 à 1996 de la relation entre le revenu et la mortalité en Outaouais urbain, dans l’ensemble des grandes villes du Québec et au sein de l’agglomération d’Ottawa-Gatineau. Gatineau, QC, Canada: Direction de la santé publique, Agence de développement de réseaux locaux de services de santé et de services sociaux.
18.
CourteauJPÉmondLGarvieP (2002) Le portrait de santé. La région de l’Outaouais et ses districts de CLSC. Gatineau, QC, Canada: Direction de la santé publique, Régie régionale de la santé et des services sociaux de l’Outaouais.
19.
DumasABournivalE (2011) Men, masculinities and health. Theory and application. In: LakerJ (ed.) Canadian Masculinities: An Interdisciplinary Reader. Toronto, ON, Canada: Oxford University Press, pp. 33–51.
20.
DumasAGagnonI (2013) Masculinité, pauvreté et réadaptation cardiaque: Le fardeau des hommes qui occupent des métiers de la route. Revue de Moncton48(1–2).
21.
DumasALabergeS (2005) Social class and ageing bodies: Understanding physical activity in later life. Social Theory & Health3(3): 183–205.
22.
DumasATurnerBS (2009) Aging in post-industrial societies: Intergenerational conflict and solidarity. In: PowellJHendrickJ (eds) The Welfare State and Postindustrial Society: A Global Analysis. New York: Springer, pp. 41–56.
23.
EmslieC (2005) Women, men and coronary heart disease: A review of the qualitative literature. Journal of Advanced Nursing51(4): 382–395.
24.
EmslieCHuntK (2009) Men, masculinities and heart disease: A systematic review of the qualitative literature. Current Sociology57(2): 155–191.
25.
GreenbergLNormandinC (2011) Disparities in Life Expectancy at Birth (catalogue no. 82-624-X). Ottawa, ON, Canada: Statistics Canada.
26.
HarlanWRIIISandlerSALeeKL. (1995) Importance of baseline functional and socioeconomic factors for participation in cardiac rehabilitation. American Journal of Cardiology76: 36–39.
KingR (2002) Illness attributions and myocardial infarction: The influence of gender and socio-economic circumstances on illness beliefs. Journal of Advanced Nursing37(5): 431–438.
29.
LaneDCarrollDRingC. (2001) Predictors of attendance at cardiac rehabilitation after myocardial infarction. Journal of Psychosomatic Research51(3): 497–501.
30.
LindbladhELyttkensCH (2002) Habits versus choice: The process of decision-making in health related behaviour. Social Science and Medicine55(3): 451–465.
31.
MelvilleMRPackhamCBrownN. (1999) Cardiac rehabilitation: Socially deprived patients are less likely to attend but patients ineligible for thrombolysis are less likely to be invited. Heart82(3): 373–377.
32.
PampalonRHamelDGamacheP (2008) Évolution de la mortalité prématurée au Québec selon la défavorisation matérielle et sociale. In: FrolichKDe KonnickMDemersA. (eds) Les inégalités sociales de santé au Québec. Montréal, QC, Canada: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, pp. 13–35.
33.
PolandBFrohlichKHainesRJ. (2006) The social context of smoking: The next frontier in tobacco control?Tobacco Control15(1): 59–63.
34.
RaphaelD (2002) Social Justice is Good for Our Hearts: Why Societal Factors—Not Lifestyles—Are Major Causes of Heart Disease in Canada and Elsewhere. Toronto, ON, Canada: CSJ Foundation for Research and Education.
35.
SavageMDumasAStuartS (2013) Fatalism and short-termism as cultural barriers to cardiac rehabilitation amongst underprivileged men. Sociology of Health and Illness35(8).
36.
SayerA (2005) The Moral Significance of Class. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
37.
SmithGDHartCBlaneD. (1998) Adverse socioeconomic conditions in childhood and cause specific mortality: Prospective observational study. British Medical Journal316(7145): 1631–1635.
38.
WacquantL (2005) Habitus. In: BeckertJZafirovskiM (eds) International Encyclopedia of Economic Sociology. London: Routledge, pp. 315–319.
39.
WheatleyEE (2006) Bodies at Risk: An Ethnography of Heart Disease. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing.
40.
WilliamsSJ (1995) Theorising class, health and lifestyle: Can Bourdieu help us?Sociology of Health and Illness17(5): 577–604.
41.
WilsonW (1987) The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
42.
WorcesterMUCMurphyBMMeeVK. (2004) Cardiac rehabilitation programmes: Predictors of non-attendance and drop-out. European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation11(4): 328–335.
