Researchers Yoo and Levine (SFSU) and Ewing and Forte (UCSF) and are committed to understanding how breast cancer diagnosis has impacted quality of life in racial and ethnic minority women in the San Francisco Bay Area. The study is exploratory and is focused particularly on the experience s of African American, Chinese American and White women who are breast cancer survivors. Our collaborative goal is qualitatively and quantitatively to assess the impact of breast cancer on survivors from diverse groups, through in-depth interviews and a questionnaire exploring the psychosocial impact of breast cancer, the role and meaning of social support, and the impact of breast on quality of life. The SFSU and UCSF investigators will test several hypotheses including the following: 1) The needs of African American and Chinese American women diagnosed with breast cancer is higher than the perceived quality of life of African American and Chinese American women diagnosed with breast cancer is higher than the perceived quality of life of white women diagnosed with breast cancer.; 3) The level of distress of African American and Chinese American women will be higher than those of white women; 4) The needs of types of social support will be different between African American women, Chinese American women and white women. Previous studies examining social support (44, 45), quality of life (3, 46) and breast cancer survivors have used qualitative methods to supplement their quantitative findings. The collaborative work between SFSU and UCSFCC will be complementary because of the quantitative (UCSFCC) and qualitative (SFSU) approaches we plan to use. In this study we expect to find that types of social support used in this populations vary across populations. Moreover, we expect that changes in family relationships will also show changes in both populations. The findings of the study will help us identify and develop several testable hypotheses and culturally-appropriate interventions which may be used for a larger study. Although exploratory, this project will make a contribution to the research area of breast cancer survivorship. The lack of available research among diverse groups signifies a serious public information need. The findings may provide the broader health, social services, and policy communities with new ideas about how to meet the needs of breast cancer survivors from these populations, culturally tailored social support programs can be implemented that can ultimately enhance the quality of life for breast cancer survivors in these communities. Relationship to the Overall Objects of the U56 Program Partnership The Project Co-Leaders from UCSF and SFSU plan to accomplish the following: (1) create a long-term collaborative research relationship in the area of health disparities and breast cancer survivorship; and (2) train and develop undergraduate students in the area of cancer research. To fulfill these objectives, the investigators will work closely with UCSFCCC to recruit minority women for the proposed study and future studies; collaborative on future research grants to NCI (i.e. R01s); and collaborate on publications for peer-reviewed journals (e.g. Psycho- Oncology) and presentations (e.g. Intercultural Cancer Council). The investigators will actively facilitate the involvement of undergraduate students from under-represented minorities in the project by training and hiring four such students from SFSU as paid research assistants for this project.
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