Caregivers are engaging in recreational travel with the neuro-oncology patients they care for, yet there is little scientific research on this phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of recreational travel among caregiver-patient with brain cancer dyads from the perspective of the caregivers. Specifically, we examined (1) context (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Sexual minority men experience disproportionately elevated rates of skin cancers, likely driven by excess ultraviolet radiation exposure-namely through tanning behaviors. However, limited integrated theoretical models exist to explain sexual minority men's elevated skin cancer risk. The aim of the current study is to further test and refine an integrated theory of skin cancer risk behaviors among sexual minority men by incorporating minority stress into the integrated health behavior model of tanning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Few efforts have been made to inform intervention design for increasing the uptake of cancer screening in individuals living with serious mental illness (ILSMI), who have lower cancer screening rates than the general population. This qualitative study explored ILSMI's and their care team member's (CTM) recommendations on the design of a breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer screening intervention for ILSMI.
Methods: Twenty-five ILSMI (mean age: 71.
Latinx men who have sex with men (MSM) are an at-risk population for new HIV diagnoses. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a suite of biomedical approaches to prevent HIV infection. Latinx MSM are less likely to take PrEP compared to non-Latinx White MSM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe 20-item Pain Anxiety Symptom Scale (PASS-20) was adapted for Spanish-speaking Mexican Americans who report chronic pain (SSMACP). The instrument measures pain-related anxiety with fear, physiological, avoidance/escape, and cognitive anxiety as subtypes. In SSMACP, the Spanish PASS-20's psychometric properties were evaluated while exploring relationships between pain-related anxiety with other variables.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
December 2022
Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Program fosters the development and implementation of innovative research aimed at improving minority health and reducing or eliminating health disparities. Currently, there are 21 RCMI Specialized (U54) Centers that share the same framework, comprising four required core components, namely the Administrative, Research Infrastructure, Investigator Development, and Community Engagement Cores. The Research Infrastructure Core (RIC) is fundamentally important for biomedical and health disparities research as a critical function domain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWith ten percent of the world's children living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/ AIDS) in India, achieving elimination of parent/mother to-child transmission (EPTCT/EMTCT) is far away. Timely initiation and optimal adherence to the prevention of parent/mother to child transmission (PPTCT/PMTCT) may reduce new paediatric HIV infections to zero. This qualitative study applies the Socio-ecological Model (SEM) to understand country, region and context-specific factors influencing mothers' engagement in the PMTCT care continuum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatient navigation is increasingly common in cancer care. While navigation programs often involve informal family caregivers, few navigation interventions specifically target the family caregiver. We developed the eSNAP and Caregiver Navigator Intervention to help cancer family caregivers identify and capitalize on informal and formal social support resources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A nationwide survey was conducted to examine differences between clinical and nonclinical oncology navigators in their service provision, engagement in the cancer care continuum, personal characteristics, and program characteristics.
Methods: Using convenience sampling, 527 oncology navigators participated and completed an online survey. Descriptive statistics, χ statistics, and t tests were used to compare nonclinical (eg, community health worker) and clinical (eg, nurse navigators) navigators on the provision of various navigation services, personal characteristics, engagement in the cancer care continuum, and program characteristics.
Background: In the current nationwide study, the authors used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify classes of cancer patient navigators (CPNs) and examined whether class membership and 12 indicators were related to navigator role retention.
Methods: By using data from 460 CPNs in the United States, LCA identified classes (ie, homogenous subgroups) of CPNs with the following indicators: type of CPN (clinical vs nonclinical), education level, area(s) of the cancer care continuum in which the CPN provided patient navigation, region and urbanity where the CPN provided services, organizational work setting, and patient navigation program funding source. The associations of navigator retention with class membership and each indicator were examined using χ tests.
Background: Patient navigation improves cancer care delivery for those most at risk for poor outcomes. Lack of sustainable funding threatens the full integration of navigation services into health care delivery systems. Standardized navigation metrics that document impact and identify best practices are necessary to support sustainability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInformal caregivers are key to oncology care, but often have unmet needs, leading to poor psychological and physical health outcomes. Comprehensive, proactive caregiver support programs are needed. We describe the development of a support intervention for caregivers of persons with brain tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIEEE EMBS Int Conf Biomed Health Inform
July 2021
Long-term endocrine therapy (e.g. Tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors) is crucial to prevent breast cancer recurrence, yet rates of adherence to these medications are low.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Breast cancer survivors (BrCS) experience many psychosocial difficulties following treatment, leading to an increased risk of psychological distress compared to the general population. This is especially true for underserved BrCS whose unmet supportive care needs can result in worse physical and mental health outcomes. This qualitative study compared healthcare and support providers' perceptions of BrCS' needs to survivors' perceptions of their own needs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are one of the most at-risk group for contracting HIV in the USA. However, the HIV epidemic impacts some groups of MSM disproportionately. Latino MSM comprise 25.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLatinos in the United States have low rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening even though CRC is the third leading cause of cancer death among Latinos. This qualitative study aimed to understand and compare the perspectives of clinical staff (CS) and Latino community members (LCMs) in an urban Southern California community regarding barriers and facilitators of CRC screening. Through purposive sampling, 39 LCMs (mean age: 59.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Informal family caregivers constitute an important and increasingly demanding role in the cancer healthcare system. This is especially true for caregivers of patients with primary malignant brain tumors based on the rapid progression of disease, including physical and cognitive debilitation. Informal social network resources such as friends and family can provide social support to caregivers, which lowers caregiver burden and improves overall quality of life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in substantial morbidity and mortality and challenged public health agencies and healthcare systems worldwide. In the U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInterventions to improve medication adherence have had limited success and can require significant human resources to implement. Research focused on improving medication adherence has undergone a paradigm shift, of late, with a shift towards developing personalized, theory-driven interventions. The current research integrates foundational and translational science to implement a mechanisms-focused, context-aware approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Financial hardship influences health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of older adults. However, little is known about the relationship between financial hardship and HRQoL among vulnerable populations.
Objective: We examined the associations between financial hardship and HRQoL among older Latinos living with chronic disease, including cancer.
Background: India has the third largest human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in the world, with 15,000 newborns infected every year. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services can eliminate new HIV infections. Nondisclosure of positive HIV status and nonoptimal uptake of PMTCT are related.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile social media has the ability to quickly disseminate information and reach large audiences, cancer blogs as a communication platform have not yet been well studied. A social network analysis was conducted on 89 active cancer blogs. Results demonstrated the overall cancer-blog-network was widely distributed and decentralized, with blogs clustered by cancer type, and that breast cancer blogs were the most significant and highly linked blogs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSexual minority (SM) individuals are more likely to experience mental health concerns than heterosexual individuals. However, little is known to date about the psychological needs of SM cancer survivors. The objective of this systematic review was to identify whether SM cancer survivors experience disparate psychological outcomes compared with heterosexual cancer survivors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Sleep disturbance and cancer-related fatigue (CRF) are among the most commonly reported symptoms associated with breast cancer and its treatment. This study identified symptom cluster groups of breast cancer patients based on multidimensional assessment of sleep disturbance and CRF prior to and during chemotherapy.
Methods: Participants were 152 women with stage I-IIIA breast cancer.