The Breast Cancer Experience of Slavic Women
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Introduction to the research topics: According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the greater Sacramento area is now the home of the largest Slavic community in the country (close to 100,000 persons). Based on Sacramento public health clinic data (2004), 69.57 percent of those within the Slavic community are underinsured and 17.54 percent are uninsured. The Slavic community, like other immigrant groups, brings health-related problems derived from their culture, their migration experience, and their marginal status in their new country. These issues often manifest as higher disease incidence, severe morbidity, barriers to health care utilization or limited access to services, an apparent higher prevalence of unhealthy behaviors, and a lower impetus for preventive health practices. These issues may be exacerbated for female immigrants.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 We propose to better understand the breast cancer experience of Slavic women so that we may develop a program for Slavic community-based health educators who will have the skills and training materials to help women in their community to understand breast health, access prevention and screening, and seek care for breast cancer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The hypotheses of the research: Our primary research question is: How do Slavic immigrant women come to understand breast health and breast cancer (i.e., what is their lived experience)? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The general methodology in non-technical terms: We will conduct nine focus groups made up of first and second generation Slavic women from Sacramento and Yolo counties and ask them questions relating to their experience with breast cancer, how they understand breast health, what problems they may face related to getting health care. We will use the information from these focus groups to design a community health education training program by and for Slavic women.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Data analysis will consist of the following steps: translation and transcription; iterative review and development of a codebook; computer-assisted coding and retrieval of common themes and patterns in the data; and “off screen” examination of the interaction aspects of the focus groups. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Innovative elements of the project: To describe Slavic women’s current understandings of breast health and barriers to care and care seeking to design a health educator program by and for Slavic women. Very little is known about these issues in this population. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Community involvement: We believe the best way to understand the breast health and breast cancer experience of Slavic women is by talking with them about their experiences. Community members will be involved throughout the project by participating in town hall meetings and focus group discussions. During the town hall meetings, community members will have a chance to review the results and provide feedback on our findings. The Community Health Council (CHC) will also have an important role in providing direction and feedback in all areas of the study. The CHC will assist the collaborative team in understanding what our study results mean and how they might be best used to design a training program for the Slavic community health workers for the overall breast health and screening education for Slavic women.