Cultural Awareness of Breast Cancer Submit

Cultural Awareness of Breast Cancer Submit

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  RUNNING HEAD: CULTUREAWARENESS OF BREAST CANCER 1 Breast cancer disparity is evident in the African American women population because they are dying due to breast cancer more often than their white counterparts. The article Black Women’s Awareness of Breast Cancer Disparity and Perceptions of the Causes of Disparity, examines awareness of breast cancer disparities among Black women in Chicago; and Black women’s perceptions of the causes of breast cancer disparity. A study was performed that consisted of black women from Chicago of various ages. Some believed socioeconomic status is the contributing factor to the mortality of African American women, and others believed it’s the behavior and attitudes of women. Contributing factor affects how delivery of health care is given to African American women before and after being diagnosed with breast cancer. The article examines a study that brings attention and informs readers about the disparities of breast cancer among the African American women in Chicago. The methods that were used to investigate the awareness of breast cancer disparities among Black women in Chicago, and Black women’s perceptions of the causes of breast cancer disparity included surveys, questions, and focus groups. The women consisted of adult women of various ages, who lived in Chicago. According to Black Women’s Awareness of Breast Cancer Disparity and Perceptions of the Causes of Disparity, “all study procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Board of Northwestern University (Phelan, J. C., Link, B. G., & Tehranifar, P, 2010).” There were also interview recordings conducted. The “interview recordings were transcribed and identifying information was removed from the transcripts (Phelan, J. C., Link, B. G., & Tehranifar, P, 2010).” A question that was asked was, “in your opinion, who is more likely to die from breast cancer?…“51 % of participants believed all women have the same chance of dying from breast cancer (Phelan, J. C., Link, B. G., & Tehranifar, P, 2010).” When participants were asked the
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  Culture Awareness ofBreast Cancer 2 question “who was more likely to die from breast cancer, none believed that Whites were at highest risk. Responses were almost equally split between Black women being more likely to die from breast cancer and all women having the same chance ((Phelan, J. C., Link, B. G., & Tehranifar, P, 2010).” These responses were from people who either had perceptions that socioeconomic status was the contributing factor to the mortality of black women, or the behavior and attitudes of women were the contributing factor. According to the article, “health professionals views health disparities as resulting from factors outside of the individual, such as socioeconomic status, health policy, and the environment. These social factors in turn are believed to influence health behaviors and access to resources that protect health (Phelan, J. C., Link, B. G., & Tehranifar, P, 2010).” Although, the social factors influence whether or not black women will access resources, breast screenings are accessible to all women regardless of race. Therefore, the only barrier that the African American women in Chicago face, are themselves. A participant of the study “believed that disparities result from an unhealthy diet and from limited access to healthcare…three factors in her perceptions of disparities: behavioral (unwillingness to talk about cancer), healthcare (disrespectful treatment of the uninsured at health clinics), and societal factors (toxins in food) (Kaiser, K., Cameron, K., Curry, G., Stolley, M.).” The three factors mentioned are examples of a patient that needs education about breast cancer and has to be compliant with the education provided. In addition, contributing factors to being unaware of breast cancer disparities among African American women in Chicago affects how delivery of health care is given to African American women before and after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Fear plays a big role in the hesitation to take the necessary steps for diagnoses of any disease, especially breast cancer.
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  Culture Awareness ofBreast Cancer 3 For example, “fear was cited as a reason for the reluctance among Blacks to be screened for breast cancer. These findings are consistent with prior research documenting high levels of cancer fear and fatalism… (Davis, S. N., Thompson, H., Gutierrez, Y. E., Boateng, S. G., & Jandorf, L.).” Along with fear, shameful and embarrassed are attitudes that arise as a contributing factor. One participant of the study “articulated both the role of fear and the reluctance to communicate with others about cancer:” Moreover, the studied showed that when people think of breast cancer they associate breast cancer (incidence) with dying (mortality). A weakness of the article is the study did not include women who had other views besides, breast cancer results to death. There are women that have been diagnosed with breast cancer, that have not died and have been cured. On the other hand, women are living longer lives with breast cancer as long as they are taking appropriate measures, including regular doctor’s appointment, treatment, and medication. Another weakness of this article was “little is known about knowledge of health disparities among minority populations themselves. None of the participants discussed either genetic or societal (i.e., availability of healthy food) explanations for racial disparities in breast cancer independent of other explanations (Phelan, J. C., Link, B. G., & Tehranifar, P, 2010).” A point that was made in the article was that African American women are dying more than their white counterparts. In order to strengthen the argument, it would be helpful to add in statistics about African American women in the United States, and not only in Chicago. On the positive side, there were some strengths in this article. For example, the study included a survey that “assessed demographic characteristics, breast cancer screening history, and knowledge of racial disparities in breast cancer (Phelan, J. C., Link, B. G., & Tehranifar, P, 2010).” The study did not focus on one resource, instead several. Data and statistics were also
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  Culture Awareness ofBreast Cancer 4 included in the article. The article showed a table that had explanations for health disparities. The study also used women of various ages, backgrounds, and exposure to others with breast cancer. Furthermore, future findings and work were implicated in the article. Thereby showing readers that research is not done. For example, a future work is there needs to be “focus group results that indicate Black women in Chicago are motivated to be screened for breast cancer (Phelan, J. C., Link, B. G., & Tehranifar, P, 2010).” According to the article, “future work should inform women of the importance of mammogram facility characteristics. This information could empower them to choose better facilities (to the extent that they are able to select their facility) and advocate for the inclusion of digital mammography (Phelan, J. C., Link, B. G., & Tehranifar, P, 2010).” This idea does not only benefit the women of Chicago, but women everywhere. As the article explains these future works, it can only encourage women about awareness and taking care of their health.
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  Culture Awareness ofBreast Cancer 5 Works Cited Davis, S. N., Thompson, H., Gutierrez, Y. E., Boateng, S. G., & Jandorf, L. (2002). Breast cancer fatalism: Ethnic differences and association with cancer screening. Annals of Epidemiology, 12(7), 491–492. Kaiser, K., Cameron, K., Curry, G., Stolley, M. (2013). Black Women’s Awareness of Breast Cancer Disparity and Perceptions of the Causes of Disparity. J Community Health, 38:766–772 Nicholson, R. A., Kreuter, M. W., Lapka, C., et al. (2008). Unintended effects of emphasizing disparities in cancer communication to African-Americans. Cancer Epidemiology Bio- markers and Prevention, 17(11), 2946–2953. Phelan, J. C., Link, B. G., & Tehranifar, P. (2010). Social conditions as fundamental causes of health inequalities: Theory, evidence, and policy implications. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51, 28–40. The Kaiser Family Foundation. (2012). Percent of Women Age 50 and Older Who Report Having Had a Mammogram Within the Last 2 Years, by Race/Ethnicity, 2010. http:// www.state healthfacts.org/comparebar.jsp?cat=10&ind=481.