Talk and backtalk: Negotiating cervical cancer screening among Appalachian women in West Virginia
View File(s)
Visitor Statistics
Visits vs Downloads
Visitors - World Map
Top Visiting Countries
Country | Visits |
---|
Top Visiting Cities
City | Visits |
---|
Visits (last 6 months)
Downloads (last 6 months)
Popular Works for Grube, Wendy D. by View
Title | Page Views |
---|
Popular Works for Grube, Wendy D. by Download
Title | Downloads |
---|
View Citations
Citations
Cervical cancer, once a major killer of women, still remains a quiet threat to the lives of discreet populations within the United States. Women living in Appalachia are among those most vulnerable to this disease primarily due to lack of participation in screening programs. Despite efforts of government subsidized programs to educate, enroll and provide screening facilities throughout high-risk areas, unacceptable rates of inadequately screened women persist. Little is known about the reasons Appalachian women do not seek screening. The literature identifies sociodemographic data related to screening, and suggests that healthcare providers play a significant role in women's participation in screening programs. Little attention has been directed toward culturally-constructed attitudes and beliefs that influence a woman's decision to be screened, or how the interface between woman and provider affects screening behavior. This study utilized focused ethnography grounded in a feminist framework to uncover sociocultural themes influencing Appalachian women's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors related to cervical cancer screening. Formal interviews with seven healthcare providers, 12 regularly screened women, and 10 rarely or never screened women were conducted in southern West Virginia over a three month period. Additional data were collected from informal interviews and conversations, community observations, and relevant artifacts. Three central cultural themes emerged: (1) perception of role; (2) talk; and (3) backtalk. Women's perception of their primary social roles influenced the priority they placed upon their healthcare. Providers' perceptions of their role shaped their likelihood to value the woman as a patient, and provide sensitive and respectful care. Communication ( talk) conveyed information and attitudes about cervical cancer and screening between women, and could motivate or deter screening participation. Dialogue between women and providers permitted the bi-directional exchange of health-related information, conveyed care and comfort, and allowed for the development of mutually constructed health goals. Without dialogue in the clinical encounter, women disengaged from care, and negatively influenced other women toward screening through backtalk. The results of this study will be useful to providers and advocacy groups in the creation of a gender-appropriate and culturally-congruent framework needed to address the existing disparity related to cervical cancer in Appalachia.
This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 3414227; ProQuest document ID: 733012986. The author still retains copyright.
This item has not gone through this repository's peer-review process, but has been accepted by the indicated university or college in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the specified degree.
Type | Dissertation |
Acquisition | Proxy-submission |
Review Type | None: Degree-based Submission |
Format | Text-based Document |
Evidence Level | Ethnography |
Research Approach | Qualitative Research |
Keywords | Appalacian Women; Rates of Cervical Cancer; Pap Smears |
CINAHL Subject(s) | Cervix Neoplasms--Diagnosis; Cancer Screening--Trends--Appalachian Region; Culture--Evaluation; Cancer Screening--Trends; Nurse-Patient Relations; Cancer Screening; Cervix Neoplasms; Culture |
Grantor | University of Pennsylvania |
Advisor | Fairman, Julie |
Level | PhD |
Year | 2010 |
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subjects.
-
Nurse-midwives perceived client related barriers influencing intentions to use cervical cancer screening services among women aged 42 and older in Blantyre, Malawi
Ehlers, Valerie Janet; van der Wal, Dirk M.; Hami, Melanie (2013-10-22)Session presented on: Tuesday, July 23, 2013: Purpose: The purpose of the study was to identify from nurse/midwives' perspective client related barriers to utilisation of cervical cancer screening services among women ... -
The related factors of receiving pap tests among immigrant women of Vietnamese origin in Taiwan
Wang, Hsiu-Hung; Lee, Fang-Hsin; Tsai, Hsiu-Min; Lin, Miaoling (2016-03-21)Session presented on Sunday, November 8, 2015: The Related Factors of Receiving Pap Tests among Immigrant Women of Vietnamese Origin in Taiwan. Background: In recent years, a common social phenomenon has been for foreign ... -
Perceptions contributing to cervical cancer screening decisions in African born immigrant women
Adegboyega, Adebola; Hatcher, Jennifer (2016-03-17)Session presented on Sunday, July 26, 2015: Purpose: Disparities in cervical cancer screenings exist for foreign born women in the United States (Hurtado-de-Mendoza, Song, Kigen, Jennings, Nwabukwu, and Sheppard (2014). ... -
Saving face: Expressing and negotiating vulnerability in culturally mis-matched home care nurse-patient dyads
Spiers, Judith A.Communication is the medium through which nursing is practiced. Despite the centrality of communication to nursing, there is limited knowledge about how vulnerability is manifested through language. This study ... -
United States resident, Jordanian and Palestinian women's participation in breast cancer screening
Kawar, Lina N.Breast cancer is a threatening disease to women worldwide. Breast cancer screening (BCS) is a key to early detection and reduced mortality. Factors predicting women's participation in BCS have been well studied in the ...