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Middleton A, Costa A, Milne R, Patch C, Robarts L, Tomlin B, Danson M, Henriques S, Atutornu J, Aidid U, Boraschi D, Galloway C, Yazmir K, Pettit S, Harcourt T, Connolly A, Li A, Cala J, Lake S, Borra J, Parry V. The legacy of language: What we say, and what people hear, when we talk about genomics. HGG Adv 2023; 4:100231. [PMID: 37869565 PMCID: PMC10589723 DOI: 10.1016/j.xhgg.2023.100231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The way we "talk" about genetics plays a vital role in whether public audiences feel at ease in having conversations about it. Our research explored whether there was any difference between "what we say" and "what people hear" when providing information about genetics to community groups who are known to be missing from genomics datasets. We conducted 16 focus groups with 100 members of the British public who had limited familiarity with genomics and self-identified as belonging to communities with Black African, Black Caribbean, and Pakistani ancestry as well as people of various ancestral heritage who came from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Participants were presented with spoken messages explaining genomics and their responses to these were analyzed. Results indicated that starting conversations that framed genomics through its potential benefits were met with cynicism and skepticism. Participants cited historical and present injustices as reasons for this as well as mistrust of private companies and the government. Instead, more productive conversations led with an acknowledgment that some people have questions-and valid concerns-about genomics, before introducing any of the details about the science. To diversify genomic datasets, we need to linguistically meet public audiences where they are at. Our research has demonstrated that everyday talk about genomics, used by researchers and clinicians alike, is received differently than it is likely intended. We may inadvertently be further disengaging the very audiences that diversity programs aim to reach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Middleton
- Wellcome Connecting Science, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK
- Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science and the Public, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge CB4 8PQ, UK
| | - Alessia Costa
- Wellcome Connecting Science, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK
| | - Richard Milne
- Wellcome Connecting Science, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK
- Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science and the Public, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge CB4 8PQ, UK
| | - Christine Patch
- Wellcome Connecting Science, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK
| | - Lauren Robarts
- Wellcome Connecting Science, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK
| | - Ben Tomlin
- Wellcome Connecting Science, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK
| | - Mark Danson
- Wellcome Connecting Science, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK
| | - Sasha Henriques
- Wellcome Connecting Science, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK
- Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science and the Public, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge CB4 8PQ, UK
| | - Jerome Atutornu
- Wellcome Connecting Science, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK
- Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science and the Public, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge CB4 8PQ, UK
| | - Ugbaad Aidid
- Wellcome Connecting Science, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK
- Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science and the Public, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge CB4 8PQ, UK
| | - Daniela Boraschi
- Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science and the Public, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge CB4 8PQ, UK
| | - Catherine Galloway
- Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science and the Public, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge CB4 8PQ, UK
| | - Keith Yazmir
- Maslansky and Partners, 200 Varick Street, Suite 601, New York, NY 10014, USA
| | - Sachi Pettit
- Maslansky and Partners, 200 Varick Street, Suite 601, New York, NY 10014, USA
| | - Tegan Harcourt
- Maslansky and Partners, 200 Varick Street, Suite 601, New York, NY 10014, USA
| | - Alannah Connolly
- Maslansky and Partners, 200 Varick Street, Suite 601, New York, NY 10014, USA
| | - Amanda Li
- Maslansky and Partners, 200 Varick Street, Suite 601, New York, NY 10014, USA
| | - Jacob Cala
- Maslansky and Partners, 200 Varick Street, Suite 601, New York, NY 10014, USA
| | - Shelby Lake
- Maslansky and Partners, 200 Varick Street, Suite 601, New York, NY 10014, USA
| | - Julian Borra
- The Thin Air Factory Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ, UK
| | - Vivienne Parry
- Genomics England, Queen Mary University of London, Dawson Hall, London EC1M 6BQ, UK
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Wu A, Wu Y, Natarajan V, Singh P, Cheema W, Hossain R, Liu C, Mejia Y, Oo MHH, Valenzano B, Xu Y. Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Patients With Cancer and Immigration Background. JCO Glob Oncol 2023; 9:e2200303. [PMID: 37348022 PMCID: PMC10497267 DOI: 10.1200/go.22.00303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Revised: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Studies have shown that patients with cancer are more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) than noncancer patients for symptom relief and hope. We aimed to evaluate factors of race, ethnic groups, and immigration status in attitude of patients with cancer in seeking out CAM. PATIENTS AND METHODS This is a prospective questionnaire study where information on demographics, cancer information, race/ethnicity, immigration duration, and psychosocial factors was correlated with the CAM use in a community cancer center located in the borough of Brooklyn, at New York City. RESULTS Among 658 patients, the prevalence of CAM use was 66.11%. CAM use was 71.98% in females and 54.34% in males (P = .113 × 10-4). Patients of African descent had higher CAM use (72.73%) than the White patients (63.53%; P = .0371). There was no difference of CAM use between the US born (68.77%) and the immigrants (63.98%, P = .199) as a whole; however, comparing with the US born (66.50%), Asian-born immigrants had lower CAM use (53.77%, P = .0161), whereas Latin-American born had a numerical trend toward higher CAM use (74.83%, P = .0608). The number of years of living in the United States was not associated with more CAM use. Prayer and spirituality was the most common CAM subtype used (25.91%). There was no difference in CAM use in the respective non-White ethnic groups whether they were US born or non-US born. CONCLUSION In this cohort of patients with cancer enriched with immigration background, CAM use was the highest in African American patients. The use of CAM in the non-White patients was associated with their ethnic background, regardless whether they were US born or not. Cultural roots appeared to be a strong influencing factor for the usage of CAM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Wu
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
| | - Yunhong Wu
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Vijaya Natarajan
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
| | - Prabhsimranjot Singh
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
| | - Waseem Cheema
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
| | - Rukhsana Hossain
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
| | - Christine Liu
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
| | - Yocasta Mejia
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
| | - Myoe Htet Htet Oo
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
| | - Bina Valenzano
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
| | - Yiqing Xu
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
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