American Indian women cancer survivors’ experiences of community support in a context of historical oppression

ABSTRACT

This qualitative descriptive study examined the gap in knowledge on American Indian (AI) women cancer survivors’ perceptions of and experiences of AI community support. The sample included 43 AI women cancer survivors in the Northern Plains region. In total, 21% (n = 9) of participants perceived support from their AI community; 69% (n = 29) expressed some unmet needs; close to half of participants (43%, n = 18) indicated an absence of support. Historical oppression may have undermined the ability of communities to provide support to cancer survivors. Further investment in community infrastructure is warranted to reverse centuries of historical oppression.

KEYWORDS:

• Cancer
• American Indians or Native Americans
• women
• community support
• historical trauma and historical oppression
• quality of life

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health [U54MD008164]; National Institute of General Medical Sciences [U54 GM104940]; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health [K12HD043451].