“I Had a Little Bit of a Bloke Meltdown…But the Next Day, I Was Up”

Abstract

Aboriginal men could be better engaged with cancer diagnosis and treatment if greater attention was paid to recognizing preferred approaches, including pragmatism and humor, and supporting connections to family and culture throughout the cancer journey.

Indigenous Australians’ Experiences of Cancer Care: A Narrative Literature Review

“…After removing duplicate studies, the titles and abstracts of 543 studies were screened, with 59 studies identified for full-text screening. Twenty-three qualitative studies [ 18 , 19 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ] were included in the review after excluding quantitative studies ( n = 16), studies using the same dataset with different aims ( n = 3), studies not focused on Indigenous people’s experience with cancer ( n = 7), and studies not focused on Indigenous people with cancer ( n = 10).…”

“…At least 145 participants (60%) were from regional/rural or disadvantaged areas. Ten studies had the same participants who shared their experiences in different healthcare service areas living in Northern Territory ( n = 3) [ 24 , 25 , 26 ], New South Wales ( n = 2) [ 29 , 38 ], and Western Australia ( n = 5) [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 39 ]. Most of the studies ( n = 21) conducted state-wide research; only two were conducted at the national level [ 21 , 41 ].…”

“…According to Indigenous people’s experience, the whole hospital system was “cold, indifferent and unwilling to tolerate when approached to the system” (page 3) [ 39 ]. Even a decade later, Indigenous people still felt a lack of understanding of cancer care pathways in the hospital system and needed to take time in decision-making in cancer treatment [ 23 , 29 ].…”

“…Trust in the system: GPs are the main healthcare professionals providing quality care services in the primary healthcare system. Unfortunately, some Indigenous people believed that GPs’ lack of awareness of cancer diagnosis delayed subsequent treatment procedures [ 23 , 29 , 36 , 37 ]. Even after informing of symptoms, poor continuity of care by healthcare professionals in primary care impacted the patient-healthcare relationship and caused a lack of trust in the system; it resulted in being seen by multiple GPs (shop around) and delayed the cancer treatment pathways [ 29 , 34 , 37 ].…”

“…Unfortunately, some Indigenous people believed that GPs’ lack of awareness of cancer diagnosis delayed subsequent treatment procedures [ 23 , 29 , 36 , 37 ]. Even after informing of symptoms, poor continuity of care by healthcare professionals in primary care impacted the patient-healthcare relationship and caused a lack of trust in the system; it resulted in being seen by multiple GPs (shop around) and delayed the cancer treatment pathways [ 29 , 34 , 37 ]. Indigenous people felt they needed culturally-appropriate personal services such as an Indigenous Support Officer (ISO or ALO) at the beginning of the treatment programs, so they could understand the whole procedure before leaving their country [ 35 ].…”