Assessing the effect of patient navigator assistance for psychosocial support services on health-related quality of life in a randomized clinical trial in Latino breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer survivors.

Background: After a diagnosis of prostate, breast, or colorectal cancer, Latinos experience higher mortality rates and lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in comparison with other ethnic/racial groups. Patient navigation (PN) and lay community health workers or promotores are effective in increasing cancer screening and early-stage diagnosis among Latinos. However, little is known about the effect of PN on HRQOL among Latino cancer survivors.

Improving quality of life among latino cancer survivors: Design of a randomized trial of patient navigation.

Latino cancer survivors have lower survival rates for most cancers relative to non-Latino whites, including, colorectal, prostate, and breast. In addition, Latinos experience health disparities in both access to care and quality of care. Experts recommend providing psychosocial services as an integral part of quality cancer care; however, there continues to be a paucity of information on the efficacy of Patient Navigators (PNs) in linking Latino cancer survivors to appropriate psychosocial services.

Unmet supportive care needs in Hispanic/Latino cancer survivors: prevalence and associations with patient-provider communication, satisfaction with cancer care, and symptom burden.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to elucidate the prevalence of unmet supportive care needs in Hispanic/Latino cancer survivors and examine the association between unmet needs and patient-provider communication, satisfaction with cancer care, and cancer-specific symptom burden.

Methods: Hispanics/Latinos diagnosed with breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer within 15 months of treatment completion (n = 288) completed questionnaires as part of an NCI-funded project.

Results: Hispanic/Latino cancer survivors reported greater unmet needs compared to previously published norms in primarily non-Hispanic/Latino white samples.

Éxito!: Making an Impact in Training Latinos for Doctorates and Cancer Research.

Latinos lag behind other racial/ethnic groups in pursuit of master's and doctoral degrees in public health and the health sciences. Éxito! is modeled after the Minority Training Program in Cancer Control Research (MTPCCR), which found that Latino participants went on to doctoral programs at a lower rate (12%) than African American (36%) and Asian participants (33%). Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training is designed to increase the number of Latinos who pursue doctoral degrees and careers in cancer health disparity (CHD) research.

Empowering Latina breast cancer patients to make informed decisions about clinical trials: a pilot study.

Minority representation in clinical trials is vital for researchers to assess differential effects in outcomes of therapies on biological and genetic characteristics among groups. This study assessed the effect of Choices, a bilingual multi-component intervention, on perceived understanding of clinical trials, agreement with stages of decision readiness and consideration of clinical trials as a treatment option, among Latina breast cancer patients. This randomized controlled pilot study compared Choices with a control condition providing general clinical trial information to eligible patients.

Satisfaction with cancer care, self-efficacy, and health-related quality of life in Latino cancer survivors.

Background: The objective of the current study was to examine how modifiable factors such as satisfaction with cancer care and self-efficacy impact health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among Latino cancer survivors.

Methods: Latinos previously diagnosed with breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer (N = 288) completed questionnaires (Patient Satisfaction with Cancer Care Scale, Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Measures, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General, and Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics) within 2 years after receiving primary cancer treatment.

Results: Path model analyses demonstrated that satisfaction with cancer care was associated with greater HRQOL and that this relationship was explained by several facets of self-efficacy (ie, confidence in managing psychological distress [z = 3.

Text and Mobile Media Smoking Cessation Service for Young Adults in South Texas: Operation and Cost-Effectiveness Estimation.

To realize the promising potential of services delivered via smart phones to help young adults quit smoking at a high level of cost-efficiency, we constructed a texting and mobile media system that was promoted in South Texas via social media advertising and other recruitment channels. During the 6-month service period described here, enrollments were achieved for 798 participants with a mean age of 29.3 years.

Attitudes Toward Breast Cancer Genetic Testing in Five Special Population Groups.

Purpose: This study examined interest in and attitudes toward genetic testing in 5 different population groups.

Methods: The survey included African American, Asian American, Latina, Native American, and Appalachian women with varying familial histories of breast cancer. A total of 49 women were interviewed in person.

To Share or Not to Share? A Survey of Biomedical Researchers in the U.S. Southwest, an Ethnically Diverse Region.

Background: Cancer health disparities research depends on access to biospecimens from diverse racial/ethnic populations. This multimethodological study, using mixed methods for quantitative and qualitative analysis of survey results, assessed barriers, concerns, and practices for sharing biospecimens/data among researchers working with biospecimens from minority populations in a 5 state region of the United States (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas). The ultimate goals of this research were to understand data sharing barriers among biomedical researchers; guide strategies to increase participation in biospecimen research; and strengthen collaborative opportunities among researchers.

Advocacy, Efficacy, and Engagement in an Online Network for Latino Childhood Obesity Prevention.

Salud America! is a national network created to engage Latino researchers, health professionals and community leaders in actions to reduce Latino childhood obesity. An online survey of 148 Salud America! network members investigated relationships between (1) their levels of engagement with the network, (2) self- and collective-efficacy, and (3) behavioral intentions to engage in advocacy for policies that can help reduce Latino childhood obesity. Analyses of these data found that higher levels of Salud America! engagement was associated with collective-advocacy efficacy-greater confidence in organized group advocacy as a way of advancing policies to reduce Latino childhood obesity.

Promoting Factors and Barriers to Participation in Early Phase Clinical Trials: Patients Perspectives.

Background: Inclusion of minorities in clinical research is an essential step to develop novel cancer treatments, improve health care overall, understand potential differences in pharmacogenomics and address minorities' disproportionate cancer burden. However, Latinos and other minority groups continue to be critically underrepresented, particularly in early-phase clinical trials (EPCTs). The objective of the present study was to explore barriers and promoting factors influencing patients' decisions to enroll or not in early phase clinical trials (EPCTs) and identify areas for intervention to increase minority enrollment into clinical research.

Early Phase Clinical Trials: Referral Barriers and Promoters among Physicians.

Background: Physician referral is among the most effective means of recruiting patients into cancer clinical trials. Therefore, to increase minority representation in early-phase clinical trials (EPCTs), specifically accrual of Latinos, it is first necessary to examine physicians' attitudes and practices regarding these studies and factors that influence physicians' referral decisions.

Methods: This study surveyed oncologists (N=111) from a Texas Medical Association mailing list to examine barriers and promoting factors associated with physician referral of patients to EPCTs and identify areas for intervention to increase accrual of Latinos and other minorities into clinical research.

Time to definitive diagnosis of breast cancer in Latina and non-Hispanic white women: the six cities study.

Time delay after an abnormal screening mammogram may have a critical impact on tumor size, stage at diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and survival of subsequent breast cancer. This study was undertaken to evaluate disparities between Latina and non-Hispanic white (NHW) women in time to definitive diagnosis of breast cancer after an abnormal screening mammogram, as well as factors contributing to such disparities. As part of the activities of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded Redes En Acción research network, clinical records of 186 Latinas and 74 NHWs who received abnormal screening mammogram results were reviewed to determine the time to obtain a definitive diagnosis.

Exploring potential research contributions to policy: the Salud America! Experience.

Background: Increasingly, funders expect that public health researchers will include policy contributions as outcomes. Lack of agreement as to what constitutes a policy contribution of research provides little conceptual or implementation guidance to researchers who lack policy training, as well as to evaluators called on to assess "good" policy contribution.

Purpose: This study applies a previously developed policy framework to explore potential policy contributions from research conducted by 20 principal investigators of Salud America!, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children.

Míranos! Look at us, we are healthy! An environmental approach to early childhood obesity prevention.

Background: Obesity prevention research is sparse in young children at risk for obesity. This study tested the effectiveness of a culturally tailored, multicomponent prevention intervention to promote healthy weight gain and gross motor development in low-income preschool age children.

Methods: Study participants were predominantly Mexican-American children (n = 423; mean age = 4.

Salud America! Developing a National Latino Childhood Obesity Research Agenda.

U.S. childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions, with one third of children overweight or obese.

A national agenda for Latino cancer prevention and control.

Although cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and premature death among Latinos, there is limited knowledge of cancer-related issues and priorities of greatest significance to the Latino population, the largest minority group in the nation. This information is vital in helping to guide Latino cancer research, training, and awareness efforts at national, regional, and local levels. To help identify cancer issues of greatest relevance to Latinos, Redes En Accion, The National Hispanic/Latino Cancer Network, a major network among the National Cancer Institute's Special Populations Networks, conducted a survey of 624 key opinion leaders from around the country.

Minority recruitment in hereditary breast cancer research.

Although recruitment of ethnic and racial minorities in medical research has been evaluated in several studies, much less is known about the methods used to recruit these populations to participate in cancer genetics research. This report reviews the resources that have been used to identify and recruit ethnic and racial minorities to participate in hereditary breast cancer research. Overall, hospital-based resources were used most often to identify potential subjects, and active recruitment methods were used most frequently to enroll eligible subjects.