Publications by authors named "Seemela D Malope"
Article Synopsis
- - A study in Soweto, South Africa explored how women with no personal cancer experience understand breast cancer and what influences their health-seeking behaviors, focusing on socio-cultural beliefs and health system factors.
- - Researchers conducted focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with women to investigate their perceptions, revealing gaps in understanding the disease, leading to fear and stigma surrounding breast cancer.
- - Participants highlighted issues with primary healthcare, describing it as unwelcoming and under-resourced, causing reluctance to seek screening; they suggested increased community engagement and resource utilization as solutions for better awareness and care.
Background: Individual perceptions compounded with socio-cultural beliefs and health system factors are key determinants of people's health seeking behavior and are widely cited as the causes of delayed breast cancer diagnosis among women from structurally vulnerable settings. Asking: "how do women with a non-lived experience of cancer understand the disease and, what informs their health seeking behaviors?", we explored individual, sociocultural and health system elements from a conceptual model derived from the Socioecological, Health Belief and Cancer Stigma Frameworks, to understand perspectives of breast cancer in a South African urban community setting.
Methods: Using a deductive approach, we conducted a qualitative study consisting of 6 focus group discussions among 34 women from Soweto, Johannesburg (aged 35-74 years) and followed-up with 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews.