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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Shin-Ping Tu, MD, MPH1, Hueifang Chen, PhD1, Jeanette M Lim, MPH1, Suepattra May2, Anthony Chen, MD3, and Charles W Drescher, MD2. (1) General Internal Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, 325 9th Ave, Box 359780, Seattle, WA 98104, 206-731-4236, shinping@u.washington.edu, (2) Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. N., MP-900, PO Box 19024, Seattle, WA 98101-1024, (3) International Community Health Services, 720 8th ave. S., Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98104
Our study objective is to explore pertinent social and cultural constructs in the treatment and research of female Chinese American cancer patients. We recruited participants from physicians, community coalition members, and snowball sampling strategy. Semi-structured interviews, Cantonese or Mandarin, were audiotaped, translated into English, transcribed verbatim, and coded independently. We used the constant comparison method for data analysis.
To date, seventeen interviews have been completed. Preliminary findings reveal three major themes. 1) Processing Information: in addition to language barriers, these Chinese American women use a passive communication style. This style promotes a lack of understanding or misunderstanding regarding treatment options and side effects. In addition to communication gaps between providers and patients, this communication style is prone to an information void for key family members. 2) Making Decisions by this group of less acculturated women is strongly influenced by their oncologists. Negotiations between the women and their providers are minimal. More acculturated family members usually assist with navigating through the health care system. When acculturated family members are unavailable, lack of interpreter continuity pose significant challenges in processing of information and making decisions . 3) Improving/Maintaining Health involved traditional Chinese health beliefs such as bou, replenishing the body. Furthermore, the use of Chinese herbs and supplements was very common in this group of women.
Our interviews underscore the uniqueness of these Chinese American women compared to the mainstream cancer patient. Approaches to treatment and clinical trial recruitment must take these differences into consideration for the most favorable outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Cancer, Asian Women
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.