Resources and Strategies for Community-Based Cancer Prevention and Control in Among African American and Latino Urban Males

BACKGROUND: Despite encouraging strides made in the assessment and treatment of many cancers, African American and Latino male residents in New Jersey do not seem to be benefiting from these advances. These disparities suggest an inconsistency in knowledge, access and use of screening, education and treatment services. Few studies have examined the use of community resources by minority and medically underserved persons, nor the reasons for their differential use of cancer screening, education and treatment resources. In an effort to address these disparities and develop services that are culturally competent and responsive to the needs of underserved groups, this project used focus groups to gain community perspectives on the screening, educational and unmet treatment needs.

METHODS: African American and Latino male Newark residents, 40 years of age and over were recruited from local community centers, churches and shelters to participate in focus groups. Focus groups were facilitated by moderators who were the same race/ethnicity and gender as participants. Using a grounded theory approach, transcripts of the sessions were analyzed by a four person team. Codes were created and applied using an iterative process of reading, summarizing, and re-reading the transcripts.

RESULTS: Four focus groups (2 per race/ethnic group) were conducted with a total of 25 African American and 11 Latino male participants. One participant had a personal history of cancer while 55.5% (20/36) had a family history of cancer. In comparison to African American males, Latino males were less knowledgeable about where to get information about cancer resources. Most men across racial and ethnic groups had not participated in prostate, lung and colorectal cancer screening. Latino males were more likely to report language barriers associated with cancer resource material; whereas, African American males reported more suspicion about the validity of cancer information sources, materials and care. Other major themes generated from the focus groups included fear of cancer screening and outcomes and limited access to screening locations and resources.

CONCLUSIONS: Although some similarities were reported among African American and Latino males, differences in knowledge, language barriers, mistrust of cancer resources were observed between racial/ethnic groups. Knowledge gained from this should contribute to a greater understanding of the perceived availability and the use of cancer resources in Newark. The findings provide a basis for the development of targeted interventions that are culturally sensitive, and should complement the efforts being initiated by the New Jersey's Comprehensive Cancer Control plan.