Culture, identity, strength and spirituality: A qualitative study to understand experiences of African American women breast cancer survivors and recommendations for intervention development.

OBJECTIVE: Despite advancements in cancer treatment, racial disparities in breast cancer survival persist, with African American women experiencing lower survival rates and poorer quality of life than non-Hispanic White women. Using a social cognitive model of restorative well-being as a framework, this qualitative study sought: (a) to examine strength- and culture-related factors associated with African American female breast cancer survivors' cancer coping and post-treatment experiences and (b) to make recommendations for culturally sensitive intervention. METHODS: Eight focus groups occurred with a total of 40 local African American breast cancer survivors. Focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Framework analyses were used to identify themes. NVivo qualitative analysis software-managed data. RESULTS: Two major themes emerged from the focus group discussions: (a) God enables breast cancer survivorship and works every day in our lives and (b) the healthiest thing about us is that we are strong African American women. Recommendations for intervention planning and implementation were made towards intervention structure, content development and language framing in a local context. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest a need for community-based participatory survivorship interventions that are culturally and spiritually consonant and peer-based. Such interventions may respond to the cancer-related and personal needs of the target population.

Black African immigrant community leaders' views on participation in genomics research and DNA biobanking.

BACKGROUND: The emergence of DNA biobanks and the power they lend to genomics research promise substantial advances in disease prevention and treatment. Greater participation of racial/ethnic minority populations is necessary to assure a future of personalized medicine for all. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore perspectives on genomics research and DNA biobanking among black African immigrants, an often overlooked US subpopulation. METHODS: As part of a larger staged study using community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods, we conducted four focus groups with 27 leaders in the black African immigrant community, exploring perceptions about genomics, barriers, and facilitators to participation in DNA biobanks and ethical ways to engage communities. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Prominent in their views on genomics research was the legacy of colonial mistreatment and exploitation by Western researchers in their home countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The central dilemma for participants was balancing responsibilities to protect their people from harm and to find solutions for African generations to come. They insisted that nothing short of a transformation of research practice would elicit the full and sustained participation of African immigrants in the genomics enterprise. CONCLUSION: To better align practice and policy in the field of genomics research and DNA biobanking with values expressed by African immigrant leaders, it is recommended that the field adopt a CBPR model for research and a benefit-sharing model for policy.

Recruiting African-American barbershops for prostate cancer education.

Prostate cancer is the most common cause of cancer in men and the second leading cause of cancer deaths. African-American men bear a disproportionate burden of prostate cancer diagnosis and mortality. Current guidelines for prostate cancer screening differ among various medical organizations. Therefore, it is important that African-American men have the appropriate information needed to make informed decisions about prostate cancer screening. Unfortunately, a large percentage of African-American men could potentially be excluded from receiving culturally appropriate prostate cancer education. Therefore, a study was designed to recruit and intervene with African-American men and barbershops for increasing prostate cancer screening decision-making. The purpose of this study was to learn effective strategies for recruiting African-American barbershops for prostate cancer education and to determine barbershop proprietors' willingness to allow their barbershops to be used for research. In this paper, we present the outcomes of our recruitment methods for African-American barbershops, including a comparative description of participating and nonparticipating barbershops using the iMark Data System. One-hundred percent of the surveyed proprietors reported that they would allow their clients to learn about prostate cancer. Ninety-six percent reported they would consider allowing their clients to have access to handheld computers to learn about prostate cancer. We conclude from this study that African-American barbershops in general are welcoming environments in which to implement community-based prostate cancer education and public health research.