Premium
Barriers to breast cancer screening in A ustralia: experiences of women with physical disabilities
Author(s) -
Peters Kath,
Cotton Antoinette
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1111/jocn.12696
Subject(s) - breast cancer , qualitative research , medicine , feeling , humiliation , breast cancer screening , health care , family medicine , nursing , psychology , cancer , mammography , social psychology , social science , sociology , economics , economic growth
Aims and objectives To explore the experiences of breast cancer screening for women with physical disabilities. Background Despite women with disabilities having the same or greater risk of having breast cancer than women without disabilities, they are less likely to uptake breast cancer screening services. Design Qualitative descriptive study. Methods Twelve women with physical disabilities were recruited for the purpose of this study. Data were collected via semi‐structured face to face or telephone interviews. Interviews were transcribed and data were analysed thematically. Results Overwhelmingly, participants conveyed that their breast screening experiences were negative. The following four themes describe the experiences of breast cancer screening for women with physical disabilities: feeling I'm not in control; being ignored and not listened to; being helpless, alone and afraid and; experiencing pain, torture and humiliation. Conclusions Women with physical disabilities experience substantial barriers to breast cancer screening. This research highlights that the attitudes and poor communication skills of health professionals served as a deterrent to future screening for participants. Relevance to clinical practice By exploring experiences of women with physical disabilities of breast cancer screening, nurses and other health‐care professionals can use this to develop and implement optimal approaches, such as collaborative models of care which empower women with disabilities.