Beliefs about smoking-related lung cancer risk among low socioeconomic individuals: the role of smoking experience and interpersonal communication

Bekalu, Mesfin Awoke; Minsky, Sara; Viswanath, Kasisomayajula

doi:10.1177/1757975917732758

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Smokers and non-smokers were aware that smoking is linked to the development of cancer, which accords with the findings of Bekalu et al [45] that awareness of the harms of smoking does not necessarily lead to behaviour change. Young and old participants sought to minimise the adverse consequences of smoking, and even those who led the 'healthiest lifestyles' tended to fall back on old beliefs about fate and chance.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Knowledge and experience of cancer prevention and screening among Gypsies, Roma and Travellers: a participatory qualitative study

Condon

Curejova

Morgan³

et al. 2021

BMC Public Health

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Background The incidence of cancer is increasing worldwide, which has led to greater public health focus on primary prevention. Ethnic minorities have lower awareness of cancer risk factors and services, and are at greater risk of cancer mortality. While Gypsies, Roma and Travellers have poor health outcomes even in comparison with other ethnic minorities, little is known about how they view and enact primary prevention. This study takes a participatory approach to explore knowledge and experience of cancer prevention and screening in these communities. Methods Peer researchers conducted interviews (n = 37) and a focus group (n = 4) with a purposive sample of community members in Wales and South-West England. Participants self-identified as Roma (from Slovakia and Romania) or as Gypsies, Travellers or Showpeople (here described as Gypsy/Travellers). A third of the sample were Roma, and a quarter male, with ages ranging from 18 to 77 years. Data were collected from October 2018 to March 2019. Results Women and men knew that lifestyle factors, such as healthy diet, stopping smoking, drinking less alcohol and using sun protection, contribute to cancer risk reduction. However, there was a widespread lack of confidence in the effectiveness of these measures, particularly in relation to smoking. Traditional cultural beliefs were shared by Roma and Gypsy/Travellers, but did not necessarily affect the behaviour of individuals. Most women participated in cervical and breast screening but few Gypsy/Traveller men would engage with bowel screening, which conflicted with community ideals of stoical masculinity. Roma participants described language barriers to screening, with confusion about differences in timing and eligibility between the UK and Slovakian programmes; this led some to access screening abroad. Conclusion This study provides new knowledge about how Gypsies, Roma and Travellers keep healthy and prevent disease, giving insights into similarities and differences between ages, sexes and communities. These culturally distinct and high-need ethnic minorities have specific needs in relation to cancer prevention and screening, which merit targeted and acceptable health promotion to reduce health inequalities.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Knowledge and experience of cancer prevention and screening among Gypsies, Roma and Travellers: a participatory qualitative study

Condon

Curejova

Morgan³

et al. 2021

BMC Public Health

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“…Smoking was a primary topic of two articles [ 66 , 74 ]. Stiles et al [ 66 ] performed a retrospective analysis of demographic and pathological data between smokers and never-smokers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disparities in Lung Cancer: A Targeted Literature Review Examining Lung Cancer Screening, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Survival Outcomes in the United States

Dwyer

Vadagam

Vanderpoel

et al. 2023

J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

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Background Although incidence and mortality of lung cancer have been decreasing, health disparities persist among historically marginalized Black, Hispanic, and Asian populations. A targeted literature review was performed to collate the evidence of health disparities among these historically marginalized patients with lung cancer in the U.S. Methods Articles eligible for review included 1) indexed in PubMed®, 2) English language, 3) U.S. patients only, 4) real-world evidence studies, and 5) publications between January 1, 2018, and November 8, 2021. Results Of 94 articles meeting selection criteria, 49 publications were selected, encompassing patient data predominantly between 2004 and 2016. Black patients were shown to develop lung cancer at an earlier age and were more likely to present with advanced-stage disease compared to White patients. Black patients were less likely to be eligible for/receive lung cancer screening, genetic testing for mutations, high-cost and systemic treatments, and surgical intervention compared to White patients. Disparities were also detected in survival, where Hispanic and Asian patients had lower mortality risks compared to White patients. Literature on survival outcomes between Black and White patients was inconclusive. Disparities related to sex, rurality, social support, socioeconomic status, education level, and insurance type were observed. Conclusions Health disparities within the lung cancer population begin with initial screening and continue through survival outcomes, with reports persisting well into the latter portion of the past decade. These findings should serve as a call to action, raising awareness of persistent and ongoing inequities, particularly for marginalized populations.

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“…Participants randomized to the control group received health information at the end of the study period. Participants were recruited from adult education centers located in the Greater Boston area of the state of Massachusetts [36]. Researchers generally make insufficient efforts to reach underserved populations with the stereotype that they are hard to reach.…”

Section: Project 1: C2cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Project 1: C2cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing Effective eHealth Interventions for Underserved Groups: Five Lessons From a Decade of eHealth Intervention Design and Deployment

Lee¹,

McCloud²,

Viswanath³

2022

J Med Internet Res

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Despite the proliferation of eHealth interventions, such as web portals, for health information dissemination or the use of mobile apps and wearables for health monitoring, research has shown that underserved groups do not benefit proportionately from these eHealth interventions. This is largely because of usability issues and the lack of attention to the broader structural, physical, and psychosocial barriers to technology adoption and use. The objective of this paper is to draw lessons from a decade of experience in designing different user-centered eHealth interventions (eg, web portals and health apps) to inform future work in leveraging technology to address health disparities. We draw these lessons from a series of interventions from the work we have done over 15 years in the Viswanath laboratory at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, focusing on three projects that used web portals and health apps targeted toward underserved groups. The projects were the following: Click to Connect, which was a community-based eHealth intervention that aimed to improve internet skills and health literacy among underserved groups by providing home access to high-speed internet, computer, and internet training classes, as well as a dedicated health web portal with ongoing technical support; PLANET MassCONECT, which was a knowledge translation project that built capacity among community-based organizations in Boston, Lawrence, and Worcester in Massachusetts to adopt evidence-based health promotion programs; and Smartphone App for Public Health, which was a mobile health research that facilitated both participatory (eg, surveys) and passive data (eg, geolocations and web-browsing behaviors) collection for the purpose of understanding tobacco message exposure in individuals’ built environment. Through our work, we distilled five key principles for researchers aiming to design eHealth interventions for underserved groups. They are as follows: develop a strategic road map to address communication inequalities (ie, a concrete action plan to identify the barriers faced by underserved groups and customize specific solutions to each of them), engage multiple stakeholders from the beginning for the long haul, design with usability—readability and navigability—in mind, build privacy safeguards into eHealth interventions and communicate privacy–utility tradeoffs in simplicity, and strive for an optimal balance between open science aspirations and protection of underserved groups.

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Beliefs about smoking-related lung cancer risk among low socioeconomic individuals: the role of smoking experience and interpersonal communication

Cited by 7 publications

References 30 publications

Knowledge and experience of cancer prevention and screening among Gypsies, Roma and Travellers: a participatory qualitative study

Knowledge and experience of cancer prevention and screening among Gypsies, Roma and Travellers: a participatory qualitative study

Disparities in Lung Cancer: A Targeted Literature Review Examining Lung Cancer Screening, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Survival Outcomes in the United States

Designing Effective eHealth Interventions for Underserved Groups: Five Lessons From a Decade of eHealth Intervention Design and Deployment

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