End of Life Treatment Preferences of Latino Medicare Beneficiaries with Cancer Principal Investigator: Isabel Torres, Dr.P.H. The overall goal of the NCI K01 career development plan is to provide the candidate with a program of mentored research activity and study in the areas of palliative cancer care, health disparities and outcomes research to launch an independent research career with specialization in the integration of these research areas. The five-year plan is carefully designed to 1) obtain further research experience in the areas of palliative cancer care, health disparities and health services research;2) advance skills related to the design and analyses of prospective palliative care studies through training in advanced statistical methods;3) improve skills needed to develop and test new instruments and performance measures to improve the accuracy of assessing quality outcomes for both English and Spanish speaking Latinos with cancer;4) acquire further grant writing skills and experiences, resulting in the submission of an R01 grant before the end of the support period. Properly identifying the end-of-life preferences of cancer patients is a national healthcare priority and understanding the clinical, cultural, psychosocial and system-level factors that influence these decisions is paramount for clinicians and policymakers trying to respect patient preferences and improve their quality of care.
The aim of the study is to determine if declining health status influences the end-of-life treatment preferences in Latino Medicare beneficiaries with cancer and how these preferences are modified by factors such as acculturation, health literacy, medical mistrust, provider ethnicity or the use of interpreters, or patient navigators. Participants will be 100 older Latino Medicare beneficiaries with breast, colorectal or prostate cancer, stage III or greater, and 100 contemporaries without cancer. Persons without cancer will be surveyed only once cross-sectionally and those with cancer will be interviewed at baseline and then monthly until twelve months or death to capture the preferences of both those who are undergoing rapid decline and those who are stable. Understanding the relationship between declining functional status and the treatment preferences of older Latinos with cancer has important clinical and policy implications, as findings could influence the use of written documents for advance care planning and inform the content and frequency of discussions that may be needed to capture changes in preferences triggered by changes in health status. We expect the proposed area of study and research that integrates palliative cancer care and health disparities research and applies prospective analytic methods to investigate a critical and understudied area to make a significant contribution to cancer care research.

Public Health Relevance

End-of-Life Treatment Preferences of Latino Medicare Beneficiaries with Cancer Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the older population and new Latino cancer cases are predicted to double within the next twenty years. A person with cancer's choices to forgo life-extending treatment may change over time and as their health declines, yet identifying their choices related to one of life's most difficult periods is not always easy. This study will determine if the combination of declining health, cultural factors and meeting the cultural and language needs of Latino cancer patients, influence their end-of-life treatment choices.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research & Training (K01)
Project #
5K01CA151785-04
Application #
8326752
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZCA1-RTRB-8 (M1))
Program Officer
Ojeifo, John O
Project Start
2010-09-30
Project End
2015-08-31
Budget Start
2012-09-01
Budget End
2013-08-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$150,359
Indirect Cost
$11,138
Name
University of Houston
Department
Type
Schools of Social Work
DUNS #
036837920
City
Houston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77204
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Enard, K R; Nevarez, L; Hernandez, M et al. (2015) Patient navigation to increase colorectal cancer screening among Latino Medicare enrollees: a randomized controlled trial. Cancer Causes Control 26:1351-9
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Noguera, Antonio; Yennurajalingam, Sriram; Torres-Vigil, Isabel et al. (2014) Decisional control preferences, disclosure of information preferences, and satisfaction among Hispanic patients with advanced cancer. J Pain Symptom Manage 47:896-905
Flores, David V; Torres, Luis R; Torres-Vigil, Isabel et al. (2014) From ""Kickeando las malias"" (kicking the withdrawals) to ""Staying clean"": The impact of cultural values on cessation of injection drug use in aging Mexican-American men. Subst Use Misuse 49:941-54
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Hui, David; De La Cruz, Maxine; Mori, Masanori et al. (2013) Concepts and definitions for ""supportive care,"" ""best supportive care,"" ""palliative care,"" and ""hospice care"" in the published literature, dictionaries, and textbooks. Support Care Cancer 21:659-85
Bruera, Eduardo; Hui, David; Dalal, Shalini et al. (2013) Parenteral hydration in patients with advanced cancer: a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial. J Clin Oncol 31:111-8

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