title: Exploring beliefs about cancer among American Samoans: focus group findings.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate answers to the following questions among American Samoans: What is cancer? What causes cancer? And what can you do to prevent cancer?
  
  
  METHODS
  Focus groups (four with women and four with men).
  
  
  METHODS
  Pago Pago and the Manu'a islands, American Samoa; Honolulu, Hawaii; Los Angeles, California.
  
  
  METHODS
  80 self-reported Samoan men and women over the age of 18 years, selected through non-probability purposive sampling with help from Samoan community-based organizations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative content analysis of focus findings to identify themes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The concepts that cancer was not a Samoan illness, that failure to follow fa'aSamoa (the traditional Samoan way of life) could lead to cancer, and that a return to fa'aSamoa could prevent cancer were the prevalent themes in the focus groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The value that Samoans place on fa'aSamoa, a traditional healthy lifestyle, provides insights into the design of future intervention programs aimed at improving cancer control in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Center for Health Policy and Research, University of California, Irvine, UCI Medical Center, 101 City Drive, Orange, CA 92868-4076, USA. fahubbel@uci.edu
authors.forename: F Allan
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Hubbell
authors.forename: Pat H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Luce
authors.forename: Juliet M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: McMullin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018948:American Samoa / Q000208:ethnology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002140:California / Q000208:ethnology; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*