Latinas and Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer can be prevented from reaching late stages through cancer diagnosis. It is prevented by the utilization of the Pap screen. Even though these screenings are at low cost or not cost at all, Latina rates of invasive cervical cancer are greater than other races and Latinas are less likely to report the use of cervical and breast cancer screening. A study conducted in Eastern Washington shows no link between language barriers and the utilization of preventative health services. So the question is, why are Latinas not coming in for cervical cancer screenings? I have the privilege to try to answer this question with the help of Dr. Frances Marcus Lewis, my mentor. I am working closely with Fran to understand why Latinas are not coming in to get examined. We are currently in a process of submitting a paper to be published.
Currently, I have been researching statistics and reading articles so I may incorporate important information in the data. I have also been doing inductive coding which allows me to stay within the interviews and be able to hypothesize about some interventions that may be implicated within the Latina community. One of the important factors that we found in the study was that the male partner can have a great effect on the woman's participation in preventative screenings. One study noted that the nonsupportive attitudes and behaviors of their spouse was a great barrier to the women's utilization of preventative screenings. Being Latina myself, I feel a strong relationship with this research because I can relate to some of the study's findings. As a future health care professional it is important to me to understand not only my culture but other cultures as well so that I may be able to understand their culture and beliefs.
