Mind-body interventions often inaccessible to Black cancer survivors
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Key takeaways:
- Black cancer survivors appeared receptive to interventions incorporating mindfulness, meditation, yoga, tai chi and other mind-body or complimentary/alternative medicine interventions.
- Only 22% knew of mind-body interventions.
- Black cancer survivors preferred culturally appropriate and accessible interventions.
Black cancer survivors expressed interest in mind-body interventions such as yoga and tai chi but often lacked awareness of and access to these practices, according to review results published in Integrative Cancer Therapies.
Additional research is warranted to examine mind-body interventions specific to Black cancer survivors, researchers noted.
Background
Despite advances in health care, health equity and access to care remain significant areas of concern among racial and ethnic minorities. Black individuals are burdened with the highest rate of cancer mortality of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S. Mind-body interventions have been shown to improve physical and mental health outcomes among cancer survivors. However, Black individuals often face considerable barriers to quality health care, including awareness of mind-body interventions for cancer survivorship care, according to study background.
“I noted among the Black cancer caregivers that were enrolled in our NIH study that these types of interventions were not being utilized, despite the availability to them,” Pinky Shani, PhD, MSN, RN, assistant professor of nursing at University of Houston College of Nursing, told Healio.
Investigators sought to assess the acceptability and use of mind-body interventions among Black cancer survivors, as well as to explore whether these interventions improve outcomes. The review included 14 studies published in 2016 or later that addressed mind-body interventions and included a study population of at least 50% Black cancer survivors.
Findings
Results showed Black cancer survivors appeared receptive to interventions incorporating mindfulness, meditation, yoga, tai chi and other mind-body or complimentary/alternative medicine interventions. However, only 22% of survivors knew about these interventions.
Researchers found that Black cancer survivors across demographic backgrounds appeared interested in mind-body interventions and viewed them as an acceptable way to improve quality of life, pain interference, fatigue, anxiety, depression and physical health. Of note, Black cancer survivors preferred mind-body interventions that are culturally appropriate and accessible.
“Diversity in participation in mind-body interventions is important to consider, as interventions can affect people differently based on several demographic variables including age, gender and ethnicity,” Shani said. “Additional resources to improve access among Black cancer survivors and their caregivers is warranted. Many survivors mentioned that if mind-body interventions were made available to them outside of the clinical setting, such as through their church or via their electronic devices, they would be more inclined to participate.”
Implications
Black individuals have consistently reported that their health care providers should provide more information regarding physical activity guidelines and opportunities to practice complementary and alternative medicine, Shani said.
“This review indicated that health care teams should refer Black cancer survivors to mind-body interventions that are culturally sensitive and provide social support frameworks, such as those with a spiritual component or inclusive of an exercise intervention,” she continued. “Furthermore, Black individuals feel more comfortable and inclined to participate in mind-body interventions with facilitators of the same racial background, therefore, health care professionals should refer Black cancer survivors to mind-body practices with Black facilitators whenever possible.”
Shani plans to further analyze the differences in acceptability of the virtually delivered qi gong intervention among different racial and ethnic minorities, specifically exploring the barriers and facilitators of participation.
“There continues to be a gap in access to mind-body interventions for Black cancer survivors and, more importantly, their caregivers are an underserved population,” Shani said. “My hope is that through research at University of Houston College of Nursing and collaborating institutions we will progress beyond the acknowledgment of issues related to access to mind-body interventions to identifying solutions that will remove the racial and ethnic gap to optimize health care.”
References:
- Bari S, et al. Integr Cancer Ther. 2021;doi:10.1177/15347354211051622.
- McDonnell KK, et al. Oncol Nurs Forum. 2020;doi:10.1177/1534735420969829.
- Shani P, et al. Integr Cancer Ther. 2022;doi:10.1177/15347354221103275.
- UH nursing study first to review gap between African American cancer patients and mind-body interventions. Available at: www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2022-news-articles/july-2022/07122022-african-american-cancer-survivor-mind-body-shani.php. Published July 12, 2022. Accessed Aug. 22, 2022.
- Watson-Singleton NN, et al. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2019;doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.11.013.
For more information:
Pinky Shani, PhD, MSN, RN, can be reached at pshani@central.uh.edu.
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