Culture is recognised as an essential element of the subjective experience of illness by describing the ways of life for a group of people to ensure their survival and well-being and shaping the beliefs and values that give meaning and purpose to life (Kagawa-Singer and Blackhall, 2001). The meaning of illness, the usefulness of treatment, and the health behaviour toward disease prevention and control were all influenced by the cultural model of the disease (Coreil, Wilke et al., 2004). The cultural variation in breast cancer experience between the Western and the Eastern cultures let women respond differently.
In the Western countries, there is a high level of breast cancer awareness and uptake preventive and screening measurements lead to …show more content…
In the UK, ‘I wish I had breast cancer’ was a title used by the Charity of Pancreatic Cancer Action campaign to highlight the poor survival rates of pancreatic cancer compared to other types of cancers like breast (Pancreatic Cancer Action, 2014). The public has critique the campaign’s message by calling it ‘insensitive’, especially for those who suffered from breast cancer, but the charity’s founder explained that many pancreatic patients preferred to have another type of cancer with better prognosis just like breast or prostate (Hodgekiss, 2014). Despite the competition sense of the latter campaign regarding the most preferable cancer, it seems that breast cancer is less frightening. A qualitative study undertaken with 67 British people asked them about their perception of cancer (Robb, Simon et al., 2014). The results showed that the first response identified fear and death but in the following statement some participants showed a hopeful view, especially with the increased survival rates as a result of advance treatment options. Although the latter study did not show what type of cancer that British public feared. In general, fear still exists when perceiving cancer but people are trying to keep positive thoughts about it. On the other hand, the image of breast cancer in the Eastern culture is associated with death, pain and helplessness (Daher, 2012). This was true among 21 Pakistani women who participated in a qualitative study, who claimed that they were shocked following breast cancer diagnosis, and believed that the disease was caused by God and it could be the end of their lives (Banning and Tanzeen, 2014). Gujarati Indian women found it difficult to make sense of their
In the Western countries, there is a high level of breast cancer awareness and uptake preventive and screening measurements lead to …show more content…
In the UK, ‘I wish I had breast cancer’ was a title used by the Charity of Pancreatic Cancer Action campaign to highlight the poor survival rates of pancreatic cancer compared to other types of cancers like breast (Pancreatic Cancer Action, 2014). The public has critique the campaign’s message by calling it ‘insensitive’, especially for those who suffered from breast cancer, but the charity’s founder explained that many pancreatic patients preferred to have another type of cancer with better prognosis just like breast or prostate (Hodgekiss, 2014). Despite the competition sense of the latter campaign regarding the most preferable cancer, it seems that breast cancer is less frightening. A qualitative study undertaken with 67 British people asked them about their perception of cancer (Robb, Simon et al., 2014). The results showed that the first response identified fear and death but in the following statement some participants showed a hopeful view, especially with the increased survival rates as a result of advance treatment options. Although the latter study did not show what type of cancer that British public feared. In general, fear still exists when perceiving cancer but people are trying to keep positive thoughts about it. On the other hand, the image of breast cancer in the Eastern culture is associated with death, pain and helplessness (Daher, 2012). This was true among 21 Pakistani women who participated in a qualitative study, who claimed that they were shocked following breast cancer diagnosis, and believed that the disease was caused by God and it could be the end of their lives (Banning and Tanzeen, 2014). Gujarati Indian women found it difficult to make sense of their