Who Can Help Us on This Journey? African American Woman with Breast Cancer: Living in a City with Extreme Health Disparities

Abstract

This qualitative descriptive research study looks at the services that community-based breast cancer support agencies provide to underserved and African American women who are at risk for or diagnosed with breast cancer in Memphis, Tennessee. We seek their understanding of breast cancer mortality disparities in Memphis. Data were collected using semi-structured in-depth focus groups with five breast cancer support agencies. Categories and patterns were established using thematic analysis and a deductive a priori template of codes. Thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analyzing, and reporting themes within the data. The main themes identified within support agencies for African American women with breast cancer who live in Memphis were barriers to the use of services, education, health system support, and emotional support. Numerous sub themes included cost of medications, support group supplemental programming, eligibility for mobile services, patient/provider communication, optimism about the future, and family advice. Procrastinating, seeking second options, fearfulness, insurance, childcare, and transportation were barriers to care. Community-based breast cancer support agencies play a critical role as connectors for women with breast cancer who live in medically underserved areas and must find their way within a fragmented medical care system.

Access to Care as a Barrier to Mammography for Black Women

“…Sustainable community outreach activities, such as mobile mammography, have proven to help reduce these structural barriers for Black women while offering a possible solution to bolstering breast cancer screening in underserved communities residing in urban and rural settings (Faguy, 2020). Community-based breast cancer support agencies that include patient navigators, breast cancer support groups, and early detection programs also play a pivotal role in maximizing breast cancer outcomes in Black women (White-Means et al., 2020). Other barriers such as having inadequate childcare and having to pay for childcare have been associated with a lack of breast cancer screening (Balas et al., 2020).…”

Socioeconomic impact of breast cancer on young women in Ghana: A qualitative study

“…With these financial challenges faced by these women, they had to rely on family members, employers and other people for assistance to enable them go through treatment. A lot of studies have reported similar findings (Sanuade et al, 2018;Twahir et al, 2019;White-Means, Dapremont, Davis, & Thompson, 2020). Amid the financial difficulties, some employers promised to assist some participants with payment of hospital bills;…”

Exploring access to care from the perspective of patients with breast cancer: A qualitative study

“…However, patients were not always made aware of resources (eg, financial services) available to them in a timely manner, if at all. Patient navigators, shown to be valuable to cancer care outcomes, 11,32–34 were endorsed by patients in our study and represent a requirement of OCM practices to ensure patients receive the services they need. Roche et al 10 offered a sample care team map, as an initial step, to delineate resources within a system as one way to alert patients to resources available to them.…”

“…Peer groups offered useful information and social support, shared experiences with navigating life with breast cancer and provided a means of networking. Peer social support has been shown to decrease depression, promote psychosocial well‐being and sense of community, and foster exchange of information/experiences 34–37 …”