International Journal of Health Sciences

Identifying and Removing Barriers from Black Women in Cardiac Rehabilitation Settings
Kadeeja S. Murrell MS, Roop Jayaraman PhD, Kechinyere Iheduru-Anderson DNP

Abstract
Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an outpatient program found to improve cardiovascular health regardless of age, sex, and race. Despite the benefits of CR, only 11.9% of Black women (BW) who qualify participate. The aim was to identify barriers contributing to poor participation in CR programs by BW in the United States. A secondary aim was to offer recommendations that could increase BW’s participation in CR. Methods: Whittemore and Knafl’s (2005) approach to conducting an integrative review was used to design this study. The problem, purpose, and variables of interest were identified to form a research question. A literature search was conducted using specific terminology. Articles were reviewed for exclusion criteria. Included articles were analyzed to identify common themes. Results: Several themes emerged after analyzing potential barriers: financial cost, lack of physician referral, awareness, and representation. Several themes were identified after analyzing recommendations: addressing provider bias, altering physician referral, policy change, accessibility, and culturally-relevant care. Conclusion: Disparities in healthcare prevent BW from taking advantage of CR. Clinicians and BW can work together to overcome the barriers preventing participation. Practices must be evidence based to see favorable outcomes in BW’s attendance. Future research should investigate the effectiveness of removing barriers to CR on BW’s participation.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/ijhs.v10n1a6