For a multitude of reasons, there have been obstacles to and continue to be opportunities for improving prostate cancer education and communication to and within African American communities.
Wray et al. conducted interviews with 19 community leaders and five focus groups that included healthy men as well as prostate cancer survivors. The team also evaluated two outreach projects in which survivors spoke to African American men about prostate cancer and screening.
They identified three categories of obstacles to prostate cancer screening and treatment in these communities:
- Individual-level obstacles included limited knowledge about the condition, about prevention and treatment, and fear of cancer.
- Socio-cultural barriers included distrust of the medical system, lack of a provider for routine and preventive care, reluctance to talk about cancer, and aversion to aspects of screening.
- Institutional deficits included the scarcity of educational efforts targeting prostate cancer.
According to the authors, “Outreach project evaluations suggested that survivors can be effective in building prostate cancer knowledge, promoting positive attitudes toward screening, and fostering conversations about prostate cancer.” However, they also suggested that educational efforts in the past have included very little information about screening risks and appropriate decision-making.
The authors also suggest that the most potent forms of intervention are likely to combine survivor-led education with mass media and institution-based outreach. They argue that such comprehensive programs could shift social norms that inhibit conversation and foster fear, leading in turn to more informed decisions and better treatment outcomes.
Filed under: Diagnosis, Risk, Uncategorized
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