Cancer information seeking among Northeastern Native Americans

From 2006 through 2008, a group of multi-disciplinary researchers collaborated with a community cancer advisory board to investigate the perspectives of Native American community members and health professionals in a Northeastern U.S. state. The purpose was to examine cancer information seeking patterns, especially the challenges and promoters of access to information. Using multiple avenues to identify and recruit participants, we collected survey data from 206 Native American community members, conducted 17 in-depth individual face to face interviews and 5 group interviews with 28 people. Interview data analysis suggests there are multiple challenges to cancer detection, treatment, and survivorship including limited access to few reliable and consistent sources of information. Formal cancer education resources include employer benefits programs, Indian Health Service, and health professionals; informal cancer education is obtained through internet searches, contact with cancer survivors, non-profit organizations, the media, and family members. Survey data indicate that about 60% of participants ever looked for cancer information. Sources of cancer information included doctors, nurses, family friends, television, books or magazines, pamphlets, the internet, newspapers and medical journals. In this presentation, we will examine the styles and approaches lay Native people use to obtain “reliable” sources of cancer prevention and treatment information. Descriptions of reliability will be outlined and compared with promoters and challenges to seeking information. We will also identify strategies for increasing Native American access to and utilization of cancer resources.