Annual review of nursing research
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Limited access to health care and a system fraught with discriminatory practices inhibit some racial and ethnic minorities from gaining access to health care and assurance of equal treatment once they enter the health care system. The purpose of this chapter is to critically and systematically analyze the research literature to determine what impact individual and institutional racism has had on the prevailing health disparities across racial and ethnic minority groups. The chapter includes the following: (1) a review of the term racism and a brief overview of the history of racism in health care; (2) a review of the research literature analyzing the impact of racism on health disparities; and (3) recommendations to end the systematic institutional racism in scientific research, which is necessary to end health disparities.
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Discoveries, breakthroughs, and advances made in the area of cancer prevention and cancer control over the last 2 decades have led to declines in the rates of cancer incidence and mortality and increases in life expectancy and survival for many cancer patients. However, although the trends relative to cancer incidence, mortality, and 5-year survival for the nation as a whole have significantly improved, data reveal that there are significant disparities in the degree to which the burden of cancer that remains is borne by racial and ethnic minority population groups. As a practice-oriented discipline grounded in research, nursing could have a dominant role in efforts aimed toward eliminating the cancer disparities experienced by racial and ethnic population groups. ⋯ However, given that few efforts have been undertaken to comprehensively review and critique this body of research, little is known about the scope, quality, and potential impact of this body of nursing science. This report presents the results of one of the first comprehensive reviews of nursing research undertaken to explore and address factors associated with the evolution of the cancer-related health disparities in ethnic and racial minority population groups within the United States. The findings reveal that, while the body of nursing research has contributed much to the identification and understanding of factors associated with the excess cancer morbidity and mortality of minority populations, in order for the profession to more fully contribute to the elimination of cancer-related disparities, there is a need for nurses to further expand and strengthen this base of knowledge.
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This chapter provides a review of research literature and describes the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among racial and ethnic minority populations. The relevance of CAM to health disparities is also discussed. Complementary and alternative medicines are terms used to describe methods of health care beyond the usual Western biomedical model. ⋯ Although it is known that racial and ethnic people utilize CAM, the vast array of research questions and aims, CAM definitions, CAM practitioners, and diverse research methodologies result in mixed research findings and conclusions. In some instances, utilization of CAM modalities is stated to be a result of culture among particular groups. Even so, there is currently no evidence that scientifically supports the notion that CAM can be used to reduce health disparities within racial and ethnic minority populations.