Pacific women in NZ call for improved cancer education and more culturally responsive healthcare

Pacific women are calling for better cancer education and more culturally responsive healthcare, with new research finding major gaps in awareness of gynaecological cancers.

This is despite Pacific communities carrying a disproportionate burden of the disease.

The University of Otago study surveyed 94 Pacific women from across Aotearoa, to better understand their knowledge of women's cancers and what they see as priorities for future cancer care and research.

Senior author Professor Gabi Dachs said findings showed a need for better health education.

"We wanted to understand the knowledge base that Pasifika women have about women's cancers, so gynaecological cancers," Prof Dachs said.

"We know from very robust statistics that Pacific women carry a large burden of cancers, specifically gynaecological cancers, compared to other ethnicities in New Zealand."

"We wanted to understand, would cancer-free, by and large, women be able to identify different gynaecological cancers, and would they be able to tell us what sort of treatment you would receive if you were to have any of these cancers," Dachs added.

Researchers found many participants could not identify several major gynaecological cancers, including uterine cancer, despite Pacific women experiencing significantly higher rates of the disease.

Awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms and treatments was also low.

"It was a surprise to us how many could not identify a number of the major women's cancers, including uterine cancer or endometrial cancer, because the rates, specifically in Pasifika, are very high for this cancer," Dachs said.

"The real big take-home message is that we, as a country, Aotearoa, are not doing very well on health education in this area."

Endometrial cancer symptoms can include cramping and abnormal bleeding or spotting.

The study also asked women what they wanted cancer researchers to focus on in the future.

"We also asked them what their priorities are for research because I'm a cancer researcher, so we wanted to know what areas people want us to look into, and those were largely prevention of cancer in the first place.

"And then, if not, then an early detection because we know a lot of these cancers can be treated extremely well if they get caught early, but in order for them to be caught early, people need to understand what the symptoms would be."

However, one of the most significant responses was an emphasis on quality of life.

"Maintaining your ability to look after your family, to be a part of the family, not to become a burden on the family, and maintaining that quality of life - that was the highest priority identified by our Pacific women," Dachs said.

Researchers said the findings pointed to a need for more culturally appropriate education, such as Pacific language translations and resources that were more accessible, and understandable.

"Our next step we would like to do is provide more culturally appropriate resources, so education is in the correct languages, translating it, making it easy to understand, say using pictures, and all of these things, because that would make a huge difference," Dachs said.

The research also found many women would consider seeking support from both mainstream healthcare providers and traditional or spiritual healers.