The awareness of Cervical Cancer Screening among Appalachian Women: Review Article

There is a long tradition of negative experiences with cancer among Appalachian women that manifests as avoidance behaviors in seeking screening and follow up because of fear of a cancer diagnosis. The avoidance is usually seen as ‘passive refusal,’ but also occurs in an active form as refusal to obtain services even when offered. This problem is compounded by poverty, which influences many parts of life and is associated with lack of transportation, child care, and exclusive reliance on public health departments and other safety net health care providers to seek cancer screening. Pap tests have reduced the annual incidence cervical cancers. The study aims to overview cervical cancer methods and recommendations among women in reproductive age.

Intimate Partner Violence Stories of Appalachian Women

The purpose of this study was to explore past intimate partner violence as it occurred in Appalachian women residing in rural and non-urbanized areas. The methodology was qualitative description. Twelve former intimate partner violence female victims shared their experiences through the socioculturally appropriate tradition of story-telling. The meta-theme, Turning Points, reflecting the perceived non-linearity of intimate partner violence was supported by three themes: (1) The Process of Abuse: (2) Learn from my Story; Don’t Let it be Your Story; and (3) Does Where I Live Make a Difference? All participants experienced patterns of abuse that cycled in frequency and severity, similar injuries and health problems, fear, helplessness, and, at times, hopelessness. Application of knowledge gained through naturalistic methods can advance our understanding of intimate partner violence as it occurs in vulnerable populations and the depth and breadth of sociocultural influences which may affect the public health threat of this type of violence.

Place, Power, and Premature Mortality: A Rapid Scoping Review on the Health of Women in Appalachia

Objective: Appalachian women continue to die younger than in other US regions. We performed a rapid scoping review to summarize women’s health research in Appalachia from 2000 to 2019, including health topics, study populations, theoretical frameworks, methods, and findings. Data Source: We searched bibliographic databases (eg, PubMed, PsycINFO, Google Scholar) for literature focusing on women’s health in Appalachia. Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria: Included articles were: (1) on women’s health in Appalachia; (2) published January 2000 to June 2019; (3) peer-reviewed; and (4) written in English. We excluded studies without reported data findings. Data Extraction: Two coders reviewed articles for descriptive information to create summary tables comparing variables of interest. Data Synthesis: Two coders co-reviewed a sub-sample to ensure consensus and refine data charting categories. We categorized major findings across the social-ecological framework. Results: A search of nearly 2 decades of literature revealed 81 articles, which primarily focused on cancer disparities (49.4%) and prenatal/pregnancy outcomes (23.5%). Many of these research studies took place in Central Appalachia (eg, 42.0% in Kentucky) with reproductive or middle-aged women (82.7%). Half of the studies employed quantitative methods, and half used qualitative methods, with few mixed method or community-engaged approaches (3.7%). Nearly half (40.7%) did not specify a theoretical framework. Findings included complex multi-level factors with few articles exploring the co-occurrence of factors across multiple levels. Conclusions: Future studies should: 1) systematically include Appalachian women at various life stages from under-represented sub-regions; 2) expand the use of rigorous methods and specified theoretical frameworks to account for complex interactions of social-ecological factors; and 3) build upon existing community assets to improve health in this vulnerable population.

We are Appalachian Christians: Wait, can we say that?

Considering the question: ‘can we say that we’re Southern Appalachian Christians in the world of academia?’, the authors examine the answer amid diverse people groups while reflecting on their personal cultures as Appalachian women, Appalachian storytellers, and, yes, Appalachian Christians. Acknowledging that cultural influences impact their lives in academia, they explore how faith is often perceived in higher education. Living in the Southern United States, in the heart of Appalachia, in an area readily identified as the Bible-Belt, the authors use storytelling as a vehicle for examining intolerance as well as for thinking about what it means to be tolerant. Framed within a diversity and equity model of thinking, they provide a thought-provoking probe: have we entered a world where religious intolerance, specifically that of Christian beliefs, is acceptable? Keywords: Tolerance, Equity, Academia, Storytelling, Culture, Christians, AppalachiaHow to cite this article:Comer, M. & Brashears, K. 2020. We are Appalachian Christians: Wait, can we say that?. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South. 4(2): 218-227. https://doi.org/10.36615/sotls.v4i2.126.This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/