Leveraging the Family Influence of Women in Prostate Cancer Efforts Targeting African American Men.

BACKGROUND: Incidence rate of prostate cancer among African American (AA) men is 1.6 times that in White men. Prevention efforts in this population have typically been through faith-based organizations and barber shops, with a few including significant others. Culturally, women are known to have a strong influence in the AA family. The current study assessed prostate cancer knowledge and explored perceptions on the roles of women in prostate cancer prevention. METHODS: To assess prostate cancer knowledge, a 25-item questionnaire was administered to convenience samples of AA women (n = 297) and men (n = 199). Four focus groups were conducted to explore perceptions on the role of women in prostate cancer prevention. RESULTS: Men had a higher mean score (13.2; max of 25) than women (11.4) for knowledge of prostate cancer. For the men, higher knowledge scores were associated with having a family member diagnosed with prostate cancer and likelihood to engage healthcare providers about prostate cancer (p < 0.05). Themes from the focus groups included education/information resource, support and encouragement, instituting a "culture" of regular primary care, modeling healthcare-seeking behavior, surveillance and monitoring, motivation, and influencing diet. The major barrier to women engaging in the roles identified was limited knowledge. CONCLUSION: Including women in educational interventions may yield added benefits particularly in encouraging AA men to seek regular primary care. This affords men opportunities for dialog with healthcare providers about prostate cancer and informed decision making regarding screening.

Providing psychosocial group support for young women with breast cancer: findings from a wellness-based community collaboration.

This article describes our experience offering a collaborative, wellness-based group support program for young women with breast cancer. Goals were (1) to identify needs and priorities of young women with breast cancer; (2) to test the feasibility of a collaboration between an academic medical center, a regional cancer center, and a community-based agency; and (3) to positively influence participants' overall quality of life (QOL), emotional distress, and psychological well-being. The group intervention consisted of presentation of various topics, group discussion, and relaxation exercises. No significant changes on QOL or emotional measures were seen. Participants rated the session on symptom management as most useful and identified two areas for potential improvement (more homogeneity of participants, suggestions for additional topics).