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- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
This course will explore current trends in cancer screening among racial and ethnic minority women, their cultural beliefs and perceptions about cancer and health care, attitudes toward cancer screening, how culture might specifically influence these attitudes, and structural, cultural, and personal/cultural barriers to cancer screening. This awareness and knowledge can assist in communicating to patients in a culturally sensitive manner and to developing culturally relevant screening promotion programs. To keep the course focused, it will only cover breast and cervical cancer screenings. As in any discussion about cultural groups, it is crucial to keep in mind that there is tremendous diversity within racial and ethnic minority groups and practitioners should be aware of the limits of their knowledge and seek assistance and consultation from cultural experts when needed.
- INTRODUCTION
- DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE, RACE, AND ETHNICITY
- RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS IN THE UNITED STATES: DEMOGRAPHIC PATTERNS
- CANCER DIAGNOSES AND FATALITY TRENDS AMONG RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY WOMEN
- IMPACT OF CULTURAL BELIEFS ON CANCER SCREENING
- BARRIERS TO CANCER SCREENING
- CULTURALLY SENSITIVE CANCER PREVENTION AND HEALTH PROMOTION MESSAGES
- LINGUISTICALLY APPROPRIATE SERVICES
- GENERAL BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES WHEN WORKING WITH RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY WOMEN
- CONCLUSION
- RESOURCES
- Works Cited
- Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations Citations
This course is designed for all mental health and healthcare providers who may intervene to improve cancer screening adherence among racial/ethnic minority women.
Race and ethnicity appear to influence disparities in cancer screening among women. The purpose of this course is to increase practitioners' knowledge and awareness of how culture, race, and ethnicity influence women's behaviors and attitudes toward cancer screening.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Define culture, race, and ethnicity.
- Explain demographic trends that lend to a multicultural landscape in the United States.
- Describe trends in diagnoses and fatalities due to cervical and breast cancer for racial/ethnic minority women.
- Explain how cultural beliefs influence racial/ ethnic minority women's knowledge and beliefs about cancer and cancer screening.
- Identify barriers to cancer screening for racial/ethnic minority women.
- Discuss how cancer screening promotion can be tailored to be more culturally sensitive and relevant for racial/ethnic minority women.
- Identify culturally sensitive practice guidelines for practitioners in relation to cancer screening for racial/ethnic minority women.
Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, received her Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University, School of Social Work. She has clinical experience in mental health in correctional settings, psychiatric hospitals, and community health centers. In 1997, she received her PhD from UCLA, School of Public Policy and Social Research. Dr. Yick Flanagan completed a year-long post-doctoral fellowship at Hunter College, School of Social Work in 1999. In that year she taught the course Research Methods and Violence Against Women to Masters degree students, as well as conducting qualitative research studies on death and dying in Chinese American families.
Previously acting as a faculty member at Capella University and Northcentral University, Dr. Yick Flanagan is currently a contributing faculty member at Walden University, School of Social Work, and a dissertation chair at Grand Canyon University, College of Doctoral Studies, working with Industrial Organizational Psychology doctoral students. She also serves as a consultant/subject matter expert for the New York City Board of Education and publishing companies for online curriculum development, developing practice MCAT questions in the area of psychology and sociology. Her research focus is on the area of culture and mental health in ethnic minority communities.
Contributing faculty, Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
John M. Leonard, MD
Jane C. Norman, RN, MSN, CNE, PhD
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.