Social Relationships and Functional Impairment in Aging Cancer Survivors: A Longitudinal Social Network Study.

Background And Objectives: The intersection of cancer, treatment, and aging accelerates functional decline. Social networks, through the provision of social support and resources, may slow the progression of functional deterioration. Socioemotional selectivity theory posits that aging and major life events, like cancer, cause an intentional social network pruning to procure and maintain emotionally fulfilling bonds, while shedding weaker, less supportive relationships.

Non-spouse companions accompanying older adults to medical visits: a qualitative analysis.

Background: Medical Visit Companions (MVCs) are encouraged for older adults' routine medical encounters. Little data exist on the experiences and contributions of non-spouse companions for the growing population of older adults without a living spouse.

Methods: We conducted six focus groups with forty non-spouse MVCs identified through churches in Baltimore, Maryland.

A Spiritually-Based Text Messaging Program to Increase Cervical Cancer Awareness Among African American Women: Design and Development of the CervixCheck Pilot Study.

Background: Although Hispanic women have the highest cervical cancer incidence rate, African American women account for a disproportionate burden of cervical cancer incidence and mortality when compared with non-Hispanic white women. Given that religion occupies an essential place in African American lives, delivering health messages through a popular communication delivery channel and framing them with important spiritual themes may allow for a more accessible and culturally appropriate approach to promoting cervical cancer educational content to African American women.

Objective: The aim of this paper was to describe the design and development of the CervixCheck project, a spiritually based short message service (SMS) text messaging pilot intervention to increase cervical cancer awareness and Papanicolaou test screening intention among church-attending African American women aged 21 to 65 years.

Unique contribution of education to behavioral and psychosocial antecedents of health in a national sample of African Americans.

Education has demonstrated consistent links with many aspects of physical health and is theorized to relate to a variety of behavioral and psychosocial antecedents of health that may ultimately account for these associations. However, many of these associations and the extent to which they manifest specifically for African Americans have not been thoroughly tested. We examined associations of education-distinct from income-with established behavioral and psychosocial antecedents of health in a national sample of African Americans.

Positive and Negative Religious Coping Styles as Prospective Predictors of Well-Being in African Americans.

Research on religious coping has proliferated in recent years, but many key questions remain, including the independent effects of positive and negative religious coping styles on well-being over time. Further, little research on religious coping styles has been conducted with African Americans in spite of their documented importance in this population. The present study examined the independent prospective effects on well-being of positive and negative religious coping styles over the subsequent 2.

CervixCheck: A Spiritually-Based Text Messaging Intervention to Promote Cervical Cancer Awareness and Pap Test Screening Intention among African-American Women.

Background/purpose: On a national level, African-American women have a 34% higher incidence of cervical cancer and are twice as likely to die of the disease when compared to White women. In response to the need to improve cervical cancer prevention and Pap test screening knowledge and utilization, we developed and pilot tested a 16-day SMS text message-based intervention. The CervixCheck study was designed to develop, pilot test, and evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of a spiritually-based SMS text messaging intervention aimed at increasing cervical cancer awareness and Pap test screening intention in church-attending African-American women ages 21-65.

Psychosocial impact of BRCA testing in young Black breast cancer survivors.

Objective: Prior studies demonstrating minimal psychological consequences for women receiving genetic counseling/genetic testing (GC/GT) for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer rely on predominantly Caucasian women. We conducted a prospective follow-up of a subset of participants from a population-based study of Black breast cancer (BC) survivors receiving GC/GT for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.

Methods: Black women with invasive BC at age ≤ 50 years diagnosed between 2009 and 2012 were recruited through the Florida Cancer Registry.

Personality, Social Capital, and Depressive Symptomatology Among African Americans.

The present study examined the relationship between social capital and depressive symptoms and the moderating role of the Big Five personality constructs in a national sample of African American adults. Data were collected from a national probability sample of 803 African American men and women using a telephone survey including measures of the Big Five personality traits, social capital, and depressive symptomatology. Most interestingly, there was evidence for Personality X Social Capital interactions on depressive symptoms.

Development of tailored feedback reports on organizational capacity for health promotion in African American churches.

Standard community-engaged research methods involve reporting research findings back to study participants. Project HEAL is an implementation trial conducted in 14 African American churches. This paper reports on a strengths-based approach to reporting Project HEAL organizational capacity data back to church leadership, through use of individualized church reports.

Web-based versus in-person methods for training lay community health advisors to implement health promotion workshops: participant outcomes from a cluster-randomized trial.

Project HEAL (Health through Early Awareness and Learning) is an implementation trial that compared two methods of training lay peer community health advisors (CHAs)-in-person ("Traditional") versus web-based ("Technology")-to conduct a series of three evidence-based cancer educational workshops in African American churches. This analysis reports on participant outcomes from Project HEAL. Fifteen churches were randomized to the two CHA training methods and the intervention impact was examined over 24 months.

The role of perceived benefits and barriers in colorectal cancer screening in intervention trials among African Americans.

The Health Belief Model (HBM) is widely used in health behavior interventions. The lack of diverse samples in the development of this theory warrants additional study on how it performs among minorities. While studies have utilized HBM to address colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, limited information exists confirming how these constructs influence screening.

Recruitment of African American Churches to Participate in Cancer Early Detection Interventions: A Community Perspective.

This article describes the process used to engage and recruit African American churches to serve as participants in two multi-year behavioural cancer research interventions from a community perspective. Community-based organizations used purposive sampling in engaging and recruiting advisory panel members and churches to participate in these interventions. Trust, respect, open dialogue with participants, and commitment to address community health needs contributed to successful engagement and recruitment of African American churches to serve as participants in these cancer research projects.

The relationship between religious beliefs and behaviors and changes in spiritual health locus of control over time in a national sample of African Americans.

Using data from a sample of African Americans, the present study examined the role of religious beliefs and behaviors in predicting changes in spiritual health locus of control (SHLOC), or beliefs about the role that God plays in a person's health. A national sample of African American adults was recruited using a telephone survey and re-contacted 2.5 years later.

A Longitudinal Study of Religiosity, Spiritual Health Locus of Control, and Health Behaviors in a National Sample of African Americans.

The present longitudinal study examined religious beliefs and behaviors, spiritual health locus of control (SHLOC), and selected health-related behaviors and outcomes in a national sample of 766 African American adults. Participants were interviewed by telephone three times over a 5-year period. Results indicated that stronger religious beliefs and religious behaviors were associated with greater changes in active SHLOC.

Can Women Facilitate Men's Prostate Cancer Screening Informed Decision-Making? The M-PACT Trial.

The M-PACT study compared an all-male with a mixed-sex intervention to increase informed decision-making for prostate cancer screening among African-American men in church settings. We recruited 262 men in 18 churches randomized to the two intervention approaches. Trained and certified lay peer community health advisors in each church led a series of four men's health workshops on informed decision-making for prostate cancer screening.

Assessing Capacity of Faith-Based Organizations for Health Promotion Activities.

Background: Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are important venues for health promotion, particularly in medically underserved communities. These organizations vary considerably in their structural capacities, which may be linked to variability in implementation success for health promotion initiatives. Lacking an existing validated assessment of organizational capacity specific to FBOs, an initial prototype assessment was developed.

Role of religious social support in longitudinal relationships between religiosity and health-related outcomes in African Americans.

This study tested a longitudinal model of religious social support as a potential mediator of the relationship between religious beliefs and behaviors, and multiple health-related outcomes (e.g., depressive symptoms, functioning, diet, alcohol use, cancer screening).

Longitudinal effects of religious involvement on religious coping and health behaviors in a national sample of African Americans.

Many studies have examined associations between religious involvement and health, linking various dimensions of religion with a range of physical health outcomes and often hypothesizing influences on health behaviors. However, far fewer studies have examined explanatory mechanisms of the religion-health connection, and most have overwhelmingly relied on cross-sectional analyses. Given the relatively high levels of religious involvement among African Americans and the important role that religious coping styles may play in health, the present study tested a longitudinal model of religious coping as a potential mediator of a multidimensional religious involvement construct (beliefs; behaviors) on multiple health behaviors (e.

The Role of Leadership Support in a Church-Based Cancer Education Implementation Study.

Leadership plays a role in the success of an organization's initiatives. We examined church leaders' support-as perceived by lay community health advisor (CHA) interventionists-and implementation outcomes in a cancer early detection trial. CHAs perceived that their pastors: helped promote the intervention (M = 3.

Psychometric properties of the mammography self-efficacy and fear of breast cancer scales in Iranian women.

Background: Research investigating mammography screening has often reported low mammography self-efficacy and breast cancer fear contribute to underutilization of mammography. This study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of Champion's Mammography Self-efficacy Scale (CMSS) and Champion's Breast Cancer Fear Scale (CBCFS) in a sample of Iranian women.

Methods: The adapted instruments were administered to a community sample of 482 women aged 40 years or older.

Religious Involvement and Health over Time: Predictive Effects in a National Sample of African Americans.

In this study, two telephone interviews that assessed both religious involvement and health-related quality of life were conducted approximately 2.5 years apart in a national sample of 290 African Americans. Religious involvement was assessed with an instrument that measured both personal religious beliefs (e.

Dimensions of sustainability for a health communication intervention in African American churches: a multi-methods study.

Background: Sustainability of evidence-based health promotion interventions has received increased research attention in recent years. This paper reports sustainability data from Project HEAL (Health through Early Awareness and Learning) a cancer communication implementation trial about early detection, based in African American churches. In this paper, we used a framework by Scheirer and Dearing (Am J Publ Health 101:2059-2067, 2011) to evaluate multiple dimensions of sustainability from Project HEAL.

Adoption, reach, and implementation of a cancer education intervention in African American churches.

Background: Use of technology is increasing in health promotion and has continued growth potential in intervention research. Guided by the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework, this paper reports on the adoption, reach, and implementation of Project HEAL (Health through Early Awareness and Learning)-a community-based implementation trial of a cancer educational intervention in 14 African American churches. We compare adoption, reach, and implementation at the organizational and participant level for churches in which lay peer community health advisors (CHAs) were trained using traditional classroom didactic methods compared with a new online system.