Abstract C130: The cultural experiences of gender and sexual minorities accessing preventative breast cancer screenings: Making medical settings more inclusive to increase uptake

Abstract

Abstract In analyzing the cultural obstacles that gender and sexual minorities (GSM), specifically gender-nonconforming women and transpeople, face when accessing preventative breast cancer screenings, I have uncovered various intersections that are in play. The primary feature for this particular study is specific female body parts, the breasts, which may or may not produce conflicted feelings for GSM. Other intersections include gender performances, sex, race, and sexuality, along with educational status and economic status (which facilitates gaining health insurance) in terms of the importance, affordability, and understanding of breast cancer screenings. This is all done with the backdrop of a terrifying and deadly disease without early detection. GSM are the most underserved within this realm of medicine, and it is my contention that there are specific cultural obstacles causing this. Recently, there has been growing evidence that gender-nonconforming women and transpeople access breast screenings less often than their counterparts (Hiestand, Horne & Levitt, 2007; Wang, Griffiths & Grande, 2017, 2018; Barefoot, Warren & Smalley, 2017; Bazzi, Whorms, King & Potter, 2015; Tabaac, Sutter, Wall & Baker, 2018); however, as of yet, there have been no large-scale analyses to determine exactly what the cultural features are that are causing obstacles for these two groups in getting breast cancer screenings. Themes have emerged from my initial interviews for this project that will guide the much larger study. The underlying cultural features specific to GSM accessing medical settings as well as these themes that have emerged from the data will be the focus of my presentation. Citation Format: Kristi Tredway. The cultural experiences of gender and sexual minorities accessing preventative breast cancer screenings: Making medical settings more inclusive to increase uptake [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr C130.