"The disease is mine, the body is mine, I decide": Individual, interpersonal, and institutional barriers and facilitators among survivors of women's cancers in Andean countries

Health Care Women Int. 2018 May;39(5):522-535. doi: 10.1080/07399332.2017.1421198. Epub 2018 Feb 2.

Abstract

Recent national cancer plans address high cancer mortality in Latin America, particularly in Andean countries. Little is known about which individual, interpersonal, and institutional facilitators and barriers persist, particularly from the perspective of cancer survivors. We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with survivors of breast and cervical cancers during and after a Pan American Health Organization sponsored conference on women's cancers in Lima, Peru. We analyzed data using an inductive content analysis approach. Patients reported primarily psychosocial barriers and facilitators at individual, interpersonal, and institutional levels. Additionally, survivors provided recom-mendations to refine existing policy to improve the cancer care experience for patients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Breast Neoplasms / ethnology
  • Breast Neoplasms / psychology*
  • Cancer Survivors / psychology*
  • Fear*
  • Female
  • Health Behavior
  • Health Facilities
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
  • Health Services Accessibility
  • Humans
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Middle Aged
  • Peru
  • Qualitative Research
  • Social Support
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / ethnology
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / psychology*