The Candidate, Lisa Sharp, Ph.D., is a clinical health psychologist with the career goal of conducting independent research by transitioning to patient-oriented cancer prevention and survivorship in minority and underserved groups. The proposed award will enable her to fill educational gaps in research methods/design, cancer prevention/control epidemiology, and intervention development. These skills will be developed through didactic course work, field experiences, interdisciplinary collaboration, and both formal and informal cross-disciplinary mentoring. The primary sponsor is Marian Fitzgibbon, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist who specializes in community-based, risk reduction interventions for minority populations. The co-sponsors are Kevin Oeffinger, MD, an expert in adult survivors of pediatric cancer, Tim Shanahan, PhD, an expert in literacy, and Nadine Peacock, Ph.D., an expert in qualitative methods. The proposed study includes three components: focus groups, intervention refinement, and a randomized controlled pilot study. Participants will be adult survivors of childhood cancer, males and females from three ethnic backgrounds (Black, Hispanic, and White). The pilot is designed to assess the acceptability/feasibility of a community-based intervention to engage childhood cancer survivors more actively in cancer follow-up care. Pilot data on outcome measures will provide data for accurate power analyses and sample size calculation to support a subsequent efficacy trial. Outcomes include: knowledge of late effects and follow-up care, fear of relapse, perceived efficacy to communicate with physician, access to childhood medical records, self-efficacy to obtain medical records, and the number of completed health care visits at a six month follow-up interview.
| Seltzer, Erica D; Stolley, Melinda R; Mensah, Edward K et al. (2014) Social networking site usage among childhood cancer survivors--a potential tool for research recruitment? J Cancer Surviv 8:349-54 |
| Fitzgibbon, M L; Tussing-Humphreys, L M; Porter, J S et al. (2012) Weight loss and African-American women: a systematic review of the behavioural weight loss intervention literature. Obes Rev 13:193-213 |
