Cancer Disparities

Disparities in Cancer Treatment: Factors That Impact Health Equity in Breast, Colon, and Lung Cancer Part 2

FINDINGS ACROSS DISEASES Table 4.1 summarizes the various factors, grouped into four—(a) patient; (b) provider; (c) health system, and (d) contextual—factors found to have contributed to disparities in cancer treatment. Three cancers—breast, lung, and colorectal—are used here as illustrative examples that can serve as models for disparities in other cancers or other chronic illnesses. Breast […]

Disparities in Cancer Treatment: Factors That Impact Health Equity in Breast, Colon, and Lung Cancer Part 3

INTERVENTIONS DESIGNED TO REDUCE DISPARITIES IN CANCER OUTCOME Although there has been an accumulation of studies indicating disparities in treatment, there is a dearth of studies focusing on strategies to reduce such disparities. One of the most well-known and very effective studies has been conducted by Bickell and her team (Bickell et al., 2008). They […]

Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Health Disparities Among Cancer Survivors and Informal Caregivers Part 1

Cancer survivors are a group with unique health needs, and cancer survivorship is an area in need of better scientific understanding. First, cancer survivors experience the distress of a cancer diagnosis, the physical consequences of the disease, the complexity of treatment decisions, and the side effects of treatment. After completing initial treatment, cancer survivors face […]

Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Health Disparities Among Cancer Survivors and Informal Caregivers Part 2

EMPLOYMENT, INSURANCE, AND FINANCE The impact of cancer on survivors’ financial well-being, health coverage, and careers can persist for years after their treatment ends. Cancer treatment can lead to large medical debts and loss of income (Gordon, Scuffham, Hayes, & Newman, 2007). Cancer may cause survivors to exhaust savings, be unable to pay for basic […]

The Geography of Cancer and Its Risk Factors: Implications of Neighborhood Disparities for Cancer Disparities Part 1

There is now widespread interest in the role of neighborhoods in cancer and cancer disparities (Baker, Hoel, Mohr, Lipsitz, & Lackland, 2000; Krieger et al., 2002; Singh, Miller, Hankey, & Edwards, 2003). This new focus on the geography of cancer and its risk factors reflects mounting evidence that both are unequally distributed across neighborhoods that […]

The Geography of Cancer and Its Risk Factors: Implications of Neighborhood Disparities for Cancer Disparities Part 2

AREA-LEVEL VARIABLES AND CANCER Cancer Incidence Area-SES Numerous studies have examined the relationship between area-SES and cancer incidence, and found that results vary by cancer site/type (Singh et al., 2003; Yin et al., 2010). For example, low area-SES is associated with elevated incidence for cancers of the stomach, lung, and cervix among Blacks and Whites […]

5-a-Day and Fit-for-Life Badge Programs for Cancer Prevention in Boy Scouts (Cancer Disparities) Part 1

Overweight children are at increased risk of becoming overweight adults, and this risk increases throughout childhood (Whitaker, Wright, Pepe, Seidel, & Dietz, 1997). The odds ratio of becoming an obese adult is 1.3 for overweight 1- to 2-year-olds, 4.1 for overweight 3- to 5-year-olds, and up to 28.3 for overweight 10- to 14-year-olds (Whitaker et […]

5-a-Day and Fit-for-Life Badge Programs for Cancer Prevention in Boy Scouts (Cancer Disparities) Part 2

THE FIT-FOR-LIFE ACHIEVEMENT BADGE PROGRAM The goal of the Fit-for-Life badge program was to increase the scouts’ moderate to vigorous physical activity (PA) levels to 30 minutes a day, 5 times per week by setting weekly goals to do PA while wearing a pedometer to track their steps. Like the 5-a-Day badge program, the Fit-for-Life […]

A Systematic Approach to Developing Contextually, Culturally, and Gender-Sensitive Interventions for African American Men: The Example of Men 4 Health (Cancer Disparities) Part 1

Research on racial and ethnic health disparities has continued to grow over the past decade, but disparities in cancer morbidity and mortality between racial and ethnic groups (Frohlich & Potvin, 2008; Geiger, 2006; Griffith, Moy, Reischl, & Dayton, 2006; Sankar et al., 2004) and between men and women continue to persist and, in some cases, […]

A Systematic Approach to Developing Contextually, Culturally, and Gender-Sensitive Interventions for African American Men: The Example of Men 4 Health (Cancer Disparities) Part 2

Social Support from Peers and Spouses Focus group feedback improved our consideration of the potential role of peer support to address dietary and physical activity behaviors among African American men. Initially, we expected male peer support to be of primary importance for addressing both eating behavior and physical activity among African American men, and spousal […]