Are psychosocial interventions targeting older African American cancer survivors culturally appropriate? A review of the literature

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. Conclusion: 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. Implications for Practice: 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.