Cultural factors affecting the self-care of cancer survivors: An integrative review

Abstract

Purpose: For cancer survivors, self-care is an important factor that can improve health and quality of life. Cultures known to inform human behavior can influence self-care, such as prioritizing various self-care practices or utilizing other resources. The impact of culture on cancer survivors' self-care has not been adequately investigated to date. The purpose of this integrative review is to summarize and synthesize the past empirical literature examining cultural factors affecting cancer survivors' self-care.

Design: An integrative review was conducted.

Methods: This study was performed in accordance with Whittemore and Knafl's stages of an integrative review (problem identification, literature search, data evaluation, data analysis, and presentation of the results). A literature search was conducted using PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Embase, Web of Science (WOS), and the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBBS) computerized databases with the guidance of a medical librarian.

Results: The review incorporated 16 articles. Cultural values, cultural beliefs, fatalism, social norms, faith/religion, sexual roles, and customs were identified as cultural factors affecting the self-care of cancer survivors. These cultural factors were found to influence the behaviors of cancer survivors' health maintenance (healthy life and psychological well-being), self-care monitoring (physical symptoms and complication symptoms), and self-care management (coping with symptoms and response to symptoms).

Conclusion: The results of this study provide valuable insights into the cultural influence of cancer survivors on self-care behaviors, and healthcare providers can promote self-care behaviors if they understand cultural factors and develop nursing interventions that take cultural influences into account.