title: The concepts of health and preventive health practices of Chinese Australian women in relation to cancer screening.
abstract: Despite an emphasis on mammographic screening in Australia, Chinese Australian women have low participation rates. This qualitative study investigated how concepts of health and health promotion influence Chinese Australian women's decisions to participate in cancer screening, which is an important issue for nurses who work with multicultural populations. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 Chinese Australian women. Using thematic data analysis, the findings showed that health and illness are taken-for-granted experiences of everyday life. When they were asymptomatic, most informants saw no reason to suspect that they may have diseases. Consistent with these health beliefs, the women focused on preserving and promoting health and overall well-being in everyday life rather than attempting to detect hidden disease by screening. These ideas and practices influenced behavior in relation to cancer diagnosis and in particular toward mammography.
authors.affiliation: University of Sydney.
authors.forename: Cannas
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kwok
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sullivan
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology*; D001315:Australia; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000523:psychology*; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011322:Primary Prevention; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014930:Women / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*