Cancer Prevention and Control

Can Cultural Competency Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities? a Review and Conceptual Model

“…Influenza death rates are higher for African Americans and American Indians/Native Alaskans than they are for white Americans (Grantmakers in Health 1998). Mortality for colorectal cancer is highest for African Americans, followed by Native Alaskans, and then Hawaiians (Baquet and Commiskey 1999). Might cultural competency techniques make some inroad to reduce these disparities?…”

“…Cultural competency, however, could also be a mechanism to change the health outcomes of minority Americans. A large body of literature has documented significant racial and ethnic disparities in health care and health outcomes, with minority Americans generally receiving less health care and suffering worse health (Baquet and Commiskey 1999;Collins, Hall, and Neuhaus 1999;Ferguson et al 1998;Gaston et al 1993;Mayberry et al 1999;Sheifer, Escarce, and Schulman 2000;U.S. DHHS 1999).…”

Introduction: Proceedings of the First National Conference on Cancer in Native Americans

“…One of the most recent of these reviews is by Sievers and Fisher [14]. The most recent data for American Indians reported from all sites covered by the SEER programs (Sur-veillance, Epidemiology, and End Results programs of the National Cancer Institute [NCI]), both incidence and mortality by primary sites, 1978 through 1981, was published by the NCI [34]. However, this source lends a bias in favor of Southwestern tribes, since over 75 percent of these cancers were from tribes in New Mexico and Arizona.…”

“…Overall, the incidence rates for Native Americans for all cancers are usually less than corresponding rates for all races, or for whites or Blacks. The NCI reported an age-and sex-adjusted rate of 164 cancers per 100,000 per year for Native Americans in the SEER programs, compared with rates of 335 and 373 for whites and Blacks, respectively [34].…”

The potential and limitations of data from population-based state cancer registries

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Patterns of cancer incidence and mortality vary markedly between and within states and regions in the United States [9][10][11] and across countries, 12 reflecting population heterogeneity in regard to demographic and genetic composition as well as exposure to environmental and behavioral risk factors. [13][14][15][16] Thus, a national system of population-based cancer registries is essential to monitor state-and local-level cancer patterns and trends and to orient cancer prevention and control activities. 8 Despite the importance of local cancer data in developing and evaluating control measures, 10 states had no cancer registry in 1990, and many existing ones lacked financial or technical resources to collect complete, accurate, and timely data of requisite quality.…”