Health Literacy Environment of Breast and Cervical Cancer among Black African Women Globally: A Systematic Review Protocol of Mixed Methods.

Adequate health literacy is a necessity to enable effective decision making to seek, access and utilise appropriate health care service. Evidence exists indicating a low level of general health literacy among Black African women, especially those with a refugee background. Breast and cervical are the most common cancers, with Black African women or women with African ethnicity being disproportionately overrepresented. The level of health literacy specific to breast and cervical cancer among Black African women, especially those with a refugee background, has not been reviewed systematically. The present study describes a protocol for a systematic review of the available evidence on the level of health literacy specific to breast and cervical cancer among Black African women globally. We will perform a systematic review of the available quantitative and qualitative studies. The search will include studies that describe the level of health literacy specific to breast and cervical cancer among Black African women. We will conduct a preliminary search on Google scholar to build the concepts for search terms, and a full search strategy using the identified concepts and keywords across four databases namely PubMed, SCOPUS, CINAHL and Web of Sciences. We will use Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) to schematically present the search strategy. We will use the standardized Joanna Briggs Institute quality appraisal and selection tool to recruit studies, and the data extraction tool to synthesise the information extracted from the recruited studies. We will be guided by socioecological theory and Indigenous epistemology to synthesise the non-quantifiable information thematically, and pool the quantitative information using meta-analysis, based on the availability of information.

End-of-life experiences and expectations of Africans in Australia: cultural implications for palliative and hospice care.

The ageing and frail migrants who are at the end of life are an increasing share of migrants living in Australia. However, within such populations, information about end-of-life experiences is limited, particularly among Africans. This article provides some insights into the sociocultural end-of-life experiences of Africans in Australia and their interaction with the health services in general and end-of-life care in particular. It provides points for discussion to consider an ethical framework that include Afro-communitarian ethical principles to enhance the capacity of current health services to provide culturally appropriate and ethical care. This article contributes to our knowledge regarding the provision of culturally appropriate and ethical care to African patients and their families by enabling the learning of health service providers to improve the competence of palliative care systems and professionals in Australia. Additionally, it initiates the discussion to highlight the importance of paying sufficient attention to a diverse range of factors including the migration history when providing palliative and hospice care for patients from African migrant populations.