Are there ethnic differences in the perception of causes of cancer?
A recent study of beliefs about cervical cancer showed a marked difference between the beliefs of Latina immigrants, who viewed cervical cancer as a consequence of immorality and promiscuity, and those of their physicians (Brown 1998; Chavez et al. 1995; Martinez et al. 1997). The term ethnicity refers to social categories of identity and sub-cultural differences based on cultural distinctions of history, heredity, religion and language. When members of a group share a common explanatory model of their illnesses, it is referred to as the folk model of illness (Brown 1998). However, not every member of an ethnic group will have identical beliefs about health and illness (Harwood 1981). Health care professionals, therefore, need to understand the range of health beliefs in a population and be sensitive to the possibility that cultural factors may interfere with effective communication (Brown 1998; Bates and Edwards 1998; Hahn 1998). 2. Specific Objectives of the Pilot Study: (i). Examine
