Research article summary (published 23 Sep 2007):

"I've been through something": poetic explorations of African American women's cancer survivorship.

Full Abstract

This article describes common experiences of African American women breast cancer survivors through poetic analysis. Group-as-a-whole theory and empirical and interpretive phenomenology guided analysis of transcripts from three focus groups (n = 21) of African American breast cancer survivors. Familiarity with transcripts and themes led to awareness of poetic ways in which African American women described experiences. Black feminist literature and African American historical references contextualized survivors' experiences. Poetic interpretations of African American women's breast cancer experiences, from diagnosis to survivorship, were created from transcript dialogues. Verbatim words were used to construct the poems, as often as possible. Eleven poems describe the journey from diagnosis to survivorship as experienced by African American women. The poetry may raise levels of awareness of African American women's breast cancer survivorship experiences. Attention to subtleties that underpin culture within the context of health care environments may help health care providers to improve cultural competence.

Author information

Author/s: Kooken, Wendy Carter (WC); Haase, Joan E (JE); Russell, Kathleen M (KM);

Affiliation: Bradley University, USA. wkooken(-atsign-)bradley.edu

Grants: R03 CA97737 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS) ; T 32 NR 07066 (Agency:NINR NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Western journal of nursing research (West J Nurs Res), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Nov; vol 29 (issue 7) : pp 896-919; discussion 920-9

Dates: Created 2007/10/30; Completed 2008/01/18; Revised 2008/11/21;

PMID: 17895427, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MeSH Headings (categories) shown below.

Adaptation, Psychological Adult African Americans - ethnology Aged Attitude to Health - ethnology Breast Neoplasms - ethnology Case-Control Studies Cross-Cultural Comparison Cultural Diversity European Continental Ancestry Group - ethnology Female Focus Groups

Health Status Disparities Humans Medicine in Literature Middle Aged Nursing Methodology Research Poetry as Topic Prejudice Qualitative Research Quality of Life - psychology Social Support Survivors - psychology Women's Health

Note: Bold headings indicate primary MeSH headings or qualifiers.

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