Barriers and facilitators to colorectal cancer screening among older Korean Americans: A focus group study

ABSTRACT

A qualitative study was undertaken to explore the barriers and facilitators to colorectal cancer (CRC) screening among older Korean Americans (KAs). Four focus groups with 25 male and female KA participants and one focus group comprising five KA health professionals were conducted in the Atlanta Metropolitan area. Interpretive analyses of the interview data revealed barriers regarding CRC screening for KAs included a lack of CRC knowledge, embarrassment during the screening tests, CRC-related fatalism, and modesty, no perceived need for the screening, poor English proficiency, and mistrust of the American healthcare system. The results also indicated that doctors’ screening recommendations and access to Korean doctors positively influence KAs’ decision to participate in CRC screening. Public health social workers should consider integrating age- and gender-specific cultural contexts when developing interventions and programs for CRC screening targeted to older KAs.

KEYWORDS:

• Colorectal cancer screening
• focus groups
• Korean Americans
• social work in public health

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Professor and Gamble-Skogmo Chair in Child Welfare and Youth Policy, Wendy Haight, PhD, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN and Associate Professor, Robin Lennon-Dearing, PhD, School of Social Work, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN for their careful reviewing of our manuscript and their many insightful comments and suggestions.

Declaration of Interest Statement

Authors of this study do not have any conflict of interests.

Additional information

Funding

The first author for the project was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) under Grant Number U54MD008173, a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIMHD or NIH.