Online Archive of University of Virginia Scholarship
Examining Cervical Cancer Control for Refugee Women Living in the United States544 views
Author
Elmore, Catherine, Nursing - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Virginia0000-0002-5908-8727
Advisors
Mitchell, Emma, University of Virginia
Debnam, Katrina, University of Virginia
Keim-Malpass, Jessica, University of Virginia
Laughon, Kathryn, University of Virginia
Abstract
Despite advances in cervical cancer prevention, foreign-born women living in the United States are more than twice as likely to have never been screened for cervical cancer compared to U.S.-born women (18.5% vs. 6.8%, respectively). Refugees are a specific type of foreign-born group in the United States; an estimated 1.6 million female refugees have resettled in the United States since 1975; however, little research has examined factors that may predict cervical cancer screening adherence specifically for refugee populations living in the United States. This formative research was completed in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the International Family Medicine Clinic, which has an 18-year history of providing interprofessional, culturally sensitive access to preventative care for refugees resettling in the community. Our multidisciplinary team used a mixed-methods data analysis approach using a social ecological framework to achieve three aims: 1) determine the proportion of women who are up-to-date on cervical cancer screening; 2) examine predictors of cervical cancer screening adherence in the sample; 3) describe cervical cancer control policies and practices for countries of origin of women who resettle in the United States as refugees. The results of this study are expected to inform future research that will test and refine interventions to increase rates of cervical cancer screening for refugee women living in the United States.
Degree
PHD (Doctor of Philosophy)
Keywords
cervix cancer; cancer screening; refugees; healthcare disparities; national policy
Elmore, Catherine. Examining Cervical Cancer Control for Refugee Women Living in the United States. University of Virginia, Nursing - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, PHD (Doctor of Philosophy), 2021-04-12, https://doi.org/10.18130/v3-6baa-zd12.