Indigenous women’s experiences of cervical cancer screening: Incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing into a systematic review and metasynthesis of qualitative research

摘要

Due to historical and contextual factors, cervical cancer is typicallydetected at a later stage in Indigenous women, and so has highermorbidity and mortality. Increasing participation in cervical cancerscreening (CCS) could ameliorate this health inequity by detectingcancer when it is more easily treatable. To understand the perspectives,preferences, and experiences of Indigenous women related toparticipation in CCS, we conducted a systematic review and metasynthesisof nine qualitative research studies. To advance decolonisedqualitative evidence synthesis approaches, we use a modified version ofthe Two Row Wampum-Covenant Chain Tradition, a Haudenosauneetwo-eyed seeing analytic approach that integrates Western approacheswith Indigenous worldviews. Using the metaphor of a network of forestplants, we illustrate the systemic and topical barriers and facilitators toCCS, as reported by Indigenous women. We use this metaphor toreiterate the importance of all levels of change to improve CCSexperiences for Indigenous women.