Challenges for Latina Breast Cancer Patient Survivorship Care in a Rural US-Mexico Border Region

Rural US Latina breast cancer patients experience language barriers, health literacy issues, and limited access to health care resources that negatively impact survivorship care. This study explored the challenges to survivorship care for rural Latina breast cancer (BC) patients and approaches to su...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-06, Vol.18 (13), p.7024
Main Authors: Ko, Eunjeong, Cardenas, Veronica, Zúñiga, María Luisa, Woodruff, Susan I., Rodriguez, Viviane, Palomino, Helen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Breast cancer
Cancer therapies
Caregivers
Chemotherapy
Clinics
Data analysis
Focus groups
Health care
Hispanic Americans
International boundaries
Interviews
Medical diagnosis
Mortality
Nurses
Oncology
Patients
Physicians
Primary care
Psychological stress
Radiation
Rural areas
Survival
White people
Womens health
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Rural US Latina breast cancer patients experience language barriers, health literacy issues, and limited access to health care resources that negatively impact survivorship care. This study explored the challenges to survivorship care for rural Latina breast cancer (BC) patients and approaches to supporting survivorship care plans (SCP) from the stakeholders’ perspectives. Data were collected via eight focus groups (n = 40) and individual interviews (n = 4) with Latina BC patients, family caregivers, and health care professionals in a rural US-Mexico Border region. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, translated, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Themes related to the patient’s SCP challenges included: (1) lack of knowledge of treatment information, (2) lack of proactive health behavior, (3) gaps in information for care coordination, (4) psychological distress, and (5) difficulty retaining health information. Respondents expressed that the SCP document could fill patient information gaps as well as support patient communication with their clinicians and family. Rural BC patients demonstrated an acute need for information and active engagement in their survivorship care. The findings indicate the importance of addressing challenges for survivorship care on multiple dimensions: Cognitive, behavioral, social, and structural. Developing a culturally tailored SCP intervention will be imperative to support survivorship care.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph18137024