Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Background: While investigations into racial cancer disparities have been conducted since cancer screening practices have begun, there are few studies that address barriers to cancer screening behaviors in African Americans particularly within the perspective of nursing. This concept is of particular concern because nurses have an opportunity and responsibility to impact the overall incidence and mortality of cancers.

Objective: The purposes of this integrative literature review were to simultaneously identify various barriers to early cancer detection and screening behaviors among African Americans and to evaluate the nursing interventions constituting the nurse’s role in overcoming these barriers.

Method: Research articles were …