Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 17, Issue 3, 2015, Pages 722-728

Cervical Cancer: Barriers to Screening in the Somali Community in Minnesota (Article)

Ghebre R.G. , Sewali B.* , Osman S. , Adawe A. , Nguyen H.T. , Okuyemi K.S. , Joseph A.
  • a Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
  • b Program in Health Disparities Research, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, United States, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, 717 Delaware St. SE. Ste. 166, Minneapolis, MN 55414, United States
  • c New American Community Services, Minneapolis, MN, United States
  • d School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
  • e University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, United States
  • f Program in Health Disparities Research, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, United States, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, 717 Delaware St. SE. Ste. 166, Minneapolis, MN 55414, United States
  • g Program in Health Disparities Research, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, United States, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, United States

Abstract

This study examined barriers to and facilitators of cervical cancer screening among Somali immigrant women in Minnesota. We adopted the socioecological framework to illustrate screening barriers at multiple levels. We conducted 23 semi-structured key informant interviews and used a thematic exploratory approach to analyze the data. Barriers were classified into individual, community or health systems levels. Obstacles included lack of knowledge, religious beliefs, fatalism, fear, embarrassment, and lack of trust in the interpreters. Participants described a need for training of healthcare providers on issues surrounding Somali women’s cultural practices and sexual health. Identifying individual, community, or health system barriers and addressing them concurrently may increase use of cancer screening services among Somali women. Future interventions need to address multilevel barriers with multilevel approaches to improve utilization of cervical cancer screening services in underserved immigrant populations in the United States. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Cervical cancer Screening Somali women qualitative

Index Keywords

Somalia Emigrants and Immigrants Uterine Cervical Neoplasms female patient attitude early cancer diagnosis Humans Patient Acceptance of Health Care Early Detection of Cancer ethnology Minnesota human adult migrant middle aged
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84930082710&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-014-0080-1&partnerID=40&md5=91f15a5243cf58f5c0cde81eb76c47b9
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-014-0080-1
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 25
Original Language: English