title: Are psychosocial interventions targeting older African American cancer survivors culturally appropriate?: a review of the literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The alleviation of cancer health disparities makes it necessary to understand and apply the knowledge about cultural behaviors in the design of interventions deemed culturally appropriate.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This review aimed to provide an overview of the ways in which strategies were used to facilitate the cultural appropriateness of psychosocial interventions delivered to African American cancer survivors.
  
  
  METHODS
  An electronic and hand search of 5 major databases was performed to identify intervention studies that targeted African American cancer patients/survivors 50 years or older. We review researchers' efforts to achieve culturally appropriate intervention research by evaluating whether peripheral, evidential, linguistic, constituent-involving, or sociocultural strategies were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only 6 intervention studies met the criteria for inclusion in this review, with each study using 1 or more strategies to achieve cultural appropriateness. However, few studies incorporated sociocultural factors in the intervention design.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Strategies to achieve cultural appropriateness in psychosocial interventions targeting older African Americans have focused more on enhancing recruitment and retention and less on the inclusion of sociocultural concepts into the content of the intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intervention studies delivered to older African American cancer patients/survivors should aim to incorporate those concepts of relevance to the population and likely to facilitate healthcare outcomes.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7460, USA. jhamilto@email.unc.edu
authors.forename: Jill B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: Mansi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Angelo D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Nakia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Best
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D054521:Cultural Competency; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*