Exploring Breast Health Through the Lived Experiences of Burmese American Immigrant Women

OBJECTIVE: To explore the unique meanings and cultural and societal challenges influencing breast health awareness and practices among Burmese American immigrant women, highlighting their personal narratives and how they find meaning through their experiences. DESIGN: This qualitative study used interpretive phenomenological analysis by employing the hermeneutic circle to understand the dynamic relationship between a person's background or previous experiences and the present moment, perceived meaning in the interrelationship between a person and a situation, and a person's perceived purpose of being-in-the-world in a circular fashion. SETTING: Burmese American immigrant women who reside in the United States were recruited and interviewed in person or virtually in community settings. PARTICIPANTS: Ten participants were interviewed. Convenience and snowball sampling methods were used, and data were collected using a structured interview. METHOD: Interpretive phenomenological analysis was the qualitative method used in this research. RESULTS: Five major themes emerged: Invisible Boundaries; Maladaptive Health Narratives Shaped by the Past; Lost in the Gap, Surrounded yet Unsupported; Cultural Modesty and Private Battles, Guided by Fate; and Resilient Voices and Empowered Choices. CONCLUSION: The information gained from the study offers nurses and other health care providers important perspectives and insights into the experiences of Burmese American immigrant women, an understudied group. Findings can contribute to current knowledge in the development of culturally tailored approaches that support patient-provider communication and improve breast health preventive care engagement of Burmese American immigrant women with diverse sociocultural and migration backgrounds.