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Published on: September 28, 2018
Fatalism revisited
Phyllis D Morgan1, Indira D Tyler, Joshua Fogel
1Department of Nursing, Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC 28301, USA. pmorgan@uncfsu.edu
Objectives:
To review the concept of fatalism among African Americans by discussing how religiosity/spirituality may guide them in seeking cancer care in a positive rather than a fatalistic way.
Data Sources:
Nursing, social science, and medical journals.
Conclusion:
Using culturally targeted faith-based interventions to educate African Americans about cancer can serve as a strategy to increase cancer knowledge, decrease cancer fatalism, and ultimately increase cancer screening and treatment resulting in cancer activism.
Implications For Nursing Practice:
Nurses should advocate for faith-based initiatives to help address fatalism in the African American community, and to assist them in developing a more proactive role in cancer screening, treatment, and survivorship.
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Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...
