Best Ways to Promote Pap Smears Among Immigrant Vietnamese Women

What are the best ways to promote pap smears, other screening procedures and health in Immigrant Vietnamese Women in Australia?
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A study in 2002 indicated that forty seven percent, twenty eight percent and 77 percent of Vietnamese women were unaware that older age, failure to get regular papanicolaou and their Vietnamese ethnicity are risk factors for cervical cancer. The study also revealed that majority of these women believed a myth that unhygienic conditions predisposed them to cervical cancer. The low screening levels among Vietnamese women indicate the need to address their traditional beliefs in encouraging them to adopt screening as a precautionary procedure (Do, Taylor, Burke, Yasui, Schwartz, & Jackson, 2007). Healthcare professionals require addressing Vietnamese immigrant women’s salient communication factors such as the role that other family members paly in the seeking care process, their time orientation and their traditional beliefs (Houston, 2002).
According to the study, one reason why Vietnamese women failed to obtain pap tests is that they felt that their physicians failed to treat them with respect and that many of them had male Vietnamese doctors. These factors discouraged women from seeking regular pap tests and the needful follow up. This indicates that Vietnamese women are more comfortable receiving care from female doctors who are respectful. Ensuring that they can access female physicians who are respectful and who also encourage them to take the test may result in improved levels of screening among Vietnamese women (Mock, et al., 2007).
There are other interventions that may encourage Vietnamese women to undertake regular pap tests. They include an outreach program implemented through lay health workers and a program promoting education on the disease through different media (Mock, et al., 2007). Using lay health workers is an effective strategy to provide information to the often underserved immigrant populations with limited knowledge about healthcare. Vietnamese lay health workers disseminate information about the causes of the disease and the importance of undertaking regular pap tests in Vietnamese language. Using Vietnamese language is effective because it breaks the language barrier and ensures better comprehension of the resources. They also offer assistance in scheduling appointments and providing information about Vietnamese women may access related medical services (Mock, et al., 2007).
The media education intervention to increase their adoption of screening has the advantage of reaching higher numbers of Vietnamese women than the lay health workers intervention. It serves an important role in communicating the preventative measures, diluting the cancer associated stigma and influencing their cultural beliefs about testing for cervical cancer. Advertisements are effective when channeled through Vietnamese media. It is also effective to use Vietnamese female actors and role models to share their views and promote screening as many Vietnamese women attribute them with credibility. Media campaigns are also effective when they highlight the success of similar interventions carried out in the past. It is important to tar...