Chapter 5 - Multicultural Issues and Resources

When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.

— Charles Evans Hughes

Certain groups of women may be at increased risk for breast cancer, or may have important experiences and needs that should be taken into consideration during screening, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship of breast cancer. Women can experience significant barriers to care for a variety of reasons. Many minority groups in the United States face challenges in getting quality healthcare.

While all women are at risk for getting breast cancer, there may be some unique issues to consider for women of different ethnic, religious or cultural groups. In this section, we focus on the following groups:

• African American Women
• Hispanic American/Latina Women
• Native American Women
• Asian American and Pacific Islander Women
• Women of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish descent

We include resources for information and support that are specific to women of different multicultural groups. Where possible, we include support groups of women with similar backgrounds. There are also a number of advocacy organizations for each group.

Please check other sections in the Resource Directory for information about breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, support, and other issues. Many organizations have resources for specific groups as well as Spanish or other language translations.

NOTE: Most research about ethnicities and cancer describes cancer rates and figures for the following ethnic groups: White/Caucasian, Black/ African American, Hispanic, American Indian/Native American (usually includes Alaska Natives), and Asian/Pacific Islander. We use the same categories in the following sections. For individuals and healthcare professionals who work with the groups listed above, we have included some information that may be helpful.

Unless otherwise noted, material for these sections was drawn largely from National Cancer Institute educational publications (800.4.CANCER or www.cancer.gov) and the National Women’s Health Information Center (www.4woman.gov).