Role of Clergywomen in Promoting Preventive Breast Cancer Behaviors Among Muslim Women in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Author(s):  
Minoor Lamyian ◽  
Fazlollah Ahmadi ◽  
Hosna Sheikholeslami

Background: The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore Iranian women’s perceptions, behaviors, and beliefs related to breast cancer screening readiness, with a focus on the role of religion. Methods: Our sample consisted of 25 women, 35 to 65 years old, who resided in Tehran, Iran. It included 15 at-risk women (self-reported history of breast cancer before the age of 40 in their family) and 10 others with a history of breast cancer. All interviewees were Muslim who spoke Persian (Farsi). The women were chosen using purposive sampling. We used a qualitative content analysis design with a constant comparative analysis approach, which is appropriate for obtaining reliable and valid results from textual data. Results: The overarching theme apparent from transcript analysis was that of “Clergywoman Can Play a Role in Increasing Awareness”. Four categories, namely, (1) Lack of information regarding breast cancer screening, (2) Awareness can improve self-care, (3) Religious outlooks of participants can influence early detection behaviors, (4) Clergywoman can play a role in increasing awareness, were identified. However, we found that the majority of interviewees lacked information about breast cancer screening and prevention. This was often both the cause and the effect of fear and misunderstandings about the process. Furthermore, we found that religious authorities, particularly clergywomen, who speak from a religious perspective, could play a significant and effective role in convincing women to pursue prevention measures. Additionally, we found that many women emphasized that religious gatherings, or framing health messages in a religious narrative, could be a significant step forward in advocating early detection behaviors. Conclusion: Our study shows that religion is a motivating factor in breast cancer early detection behavior and offers new insight into women’s perceptions of self-care. It highlights a potentially significant role of clergywomen in encouraging women in Tehran, Iran to pursue breast cancer screening.

Author(s):  
Minoor Lamyian ◽  
Fazlollah Ahmadi ◽  
Hosna Sheikholeslami

Background: The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore Iranian women’s perceptions, behaviors, and beliefs related to breast cancer screening readiness, with a focus on the role of religion. Methods: Our sample consisted of 25 women, 35 to 65 years old, who resided in Tehran, Iran. It included 15 at-risk women (self-reported history of breast cancer before the age of 40 in their family) and 10 others with a history of breast cancer. All interviewees were Muslim who spoke Persian (Farsi). The women were chosen using purposive sampling. We used a qualitative content analysis design with a constant comparative analysis approach, which is appropriate for obtaining reliable and valid results from textual data. Results: The overarching theme apparent from transcript analysis was that of “Clergywoman Can Play a Role in Increasing Awareness”. Four categories, namely, (1) Lack of information regarding breast cancer screening, (2) Awareness can improve self-care, (3) Religious outlooks of participants can influence early detection behaviors, (4) Clergywoman can play a role in increasing awareness, were identified. However, we found that the majority of interviewees lacked information about breast cancer screening and prevention. This was often both the cause and the effect of fear and misunderstandings about the process. Furthermore, we found that religious authorities, particularly clergywomen, who speak from a religious perspective, could play a significant and effective role in convincing women to pursue prevention measures. Additionally, we found that many women emphasized that religious gatherings, or framing health messages in a religious narrative, could be a significant step forward in advocating early detection behaviors. Conclusion: Our study shows that religion is a motivating factor in breast cancer early detection behavior and offers new insight into women’s perceptions of self-care. It highlights a potentially significant role of clergywomen in encouraging women in Tehran, Iran to pursue breast cancer screening.


Author(s):  
Hossein Safizadeh ◽  
Parvin Mangolian Shahrbabaki ◽  
Sara Hafezpour

Breast cancer is the most common cause of premature mortality among women, and screening is one of the most important means of early diagnosis of breast cancer. This qualitative study was conducted to explore strategies for promoting breast cancer screening behaviors from the perspective of health volunteers in south-east Iran. Data collection was performed through focus groups. Using the purposive sampling method, 35 participants were selected and data were analyzed using a specific qualitative content analysis framework. By analyzing the data to provide strategies for promoting breast cancer screening behaviors, the main theme of “organizational transformation” with five subthemes including the promotion of health-centered beliefs in society, the development of culture-based training, the media revolution, financial support, and the provision of efficient health-care providers were extracted. According to the results of the study, the development of organizational transformation plays an important role in planning for the promotion of breast cancer screening.


2020 ◽  
pp. 25-32
Author(s):  
Hesam Adin Atashi ◽  
Mohammad Eslami Vaghar ◽  
Maedeh Olya ◽  
Parisa Mirzamohammadi ◽  
Hamid Zaferani Arani ◽  
...  

Background: The incidence of breast cancer is rising rapidly worldwide. Midwives have an important role in early detection of the disease by providing the patients with awareness and an accurate Clinical Breast Examination (CBE) of the patients that are effective in early detections. This study investigated the knowledge, attitudes and practices of midwives toward breast cancer.Methods: The study was conducted on 210 of midwives aged 20-62 who participated in a seminar for clarifying the role of knowledge, attitudes and practices in breast cancer early detection and prevention. The data were collected using a standard questionnaire which has 4 sections with 55 items including age, educational level, number of family members, marital status, family history of breast cancer and their knowledge, attitude and practices about breast cancer screening. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 13.0.Results: About two-third of the participants (65.9%) had excellent knowledge about the signs and symptoms of breast cancer. The results revealed that 30.8% of respondents performed self-examination once a month. There was a significant correlation between the knowledge of breast cancer and adopting preventive practices (P = 0.02). The level of their attitude was significantly associated with a positive family history of breast cancer (P= 0.03). There was no significant relationship between marital status or family history of breast cancer with CBE. Conclusion: An appropriate level of knowledge and practice of breast cancer screening was observed to help prevention among midwives. The findings can have remarkable practical implications as midwives can play an important role to broaden the breast-cancer-related knowledge of women.


2022 ◽  
pp. 104365962110668
Author(s):  
Cannas Kwok ◽  
Mi-Joung Lee ◽  
Chun Fan Lee

Introduction: Cultural beliefs are influential factors that affect breast cancer screening practices among Korean women. The aim of this study was to examine the role of educational levels and compare the cultural beliefs associated with breast cancer screening practices among immigrant Korean women in Australia with those of their counterparts in Korea. Methods: A secondary analysis based on data from convenience samples of 245 and 249 Korean women living in Australia and Korea, respectively. Data were collected by the Korean version of Breast Cancer Screening Beliefs Questionnaire. Results: Educational level has a significant association with Korean women’s cultural beliefs about breast cancer and breast cancer screening practices regardless of country of residence. Discussion: Nurses working in multicultural societies should take cultural beliefs and the role of education into account while designing strategies to promote breast cancer screening practices among immigrant Korean women.


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