Abstract

Amongst Indigenous Australians, “cancer” has negative connotations that detrimentally impact upon access to cancer care services. Barriers to accessing cancer services amongst Indigenous Australians are widely reported. In contrast, factors that facilitate this cohort to successfully navigate cancer care services (“enablers”) are scarcely reported in the literature. Through qualitative interviews, this article examines factors that assist Indigenous Australians to have positive cancer experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve adult Indigenous oncology patients recruited from a tertiary hospital in Queensland, Australia during 2012–2014. Data generated from the interviews were independently reviewed by two researchers via inductive thematic analytical processes. Discussions followed by consensus on the major categories allowed conclusions to be drawn on potential enablers. Two major categories of enablers were identified by the researchers: resilience and communication. Individual’s intrinsic strength, their coping strategies, and receipt of support improved participant’s resilience and consequently supported a positive experience. Communication methods and an effective patient-provider relationship facilitated positive experiences for participants. Despite potential barriers to access of care for Indigenous cancer patients, participants in the study demonstrated that it was still possible to focus on the positive aspects of their cancer experiences. Many participants explained how cancer changed their outlook on life, often for the better, with many feeling empowered as they progressed through their cancer diagnosis and treatment processes.

Highlights

  • In Australia, despite concerted efforts to “Close the Gap” [1], large socioeconomic disparities still exist between non-Indigenous and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people [2]

  • The aim of this research was to explore the cancer care experiences of Indigenous Australians diagnosed with cancer

  • This paper reports on factors that assisted participants to have positive cancer experiences

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Summary

Introduction

In Australia, despite concerted efforts to “Close the Gap” [1], large socioeconomic disparities still exist between non-Indigenous and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (hereby respectfully referred to as Indigenous Australians) [2]. Health inequities are reflected in the higher morbidity and mortality rates of Indigenous Australians [3]. Indigenous populations across Canada, New Zealand, Japan, America, and India, all having worse outcomes than their non-Indigenous counterparts [4]. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 135; doi:10.3390/ijerph15010135 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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