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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Victoria H. Raveis, PhD, Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, Center for Psychosocial Study of Health and Illness, 100 Haven Avenue, Suite 6A, New York, NY 10032, 212-304-5563, vhr1@columbia.edu
Limited attention has been given to cancer in the aged, especially among various minority populations. Hispanic elderly primarily rely on family for care in times of illness and female relatives are likely to be the primary source of support and assistance. However, first degree relatives of breast cancer patients are at increased risk for breast cancer themselves. This heightened sense of risk has been associated with increased anxiety levels. A substantial proportion of women at-risk for familial breast cancer hold exaggerated perceptions of their risk and for some the perceived threat is associated with a paralyzing sense of cancer-related worry that severely impacts their ability to function on a daily basis. The anxiety and concern these women may experience may be exacerbated by the strain of providing assistance to their ill mother. Those who are extremely distressed and worried may be incapable of providing the assistance and emotional support their ill parent requires. At-risk women’s level of psychosocial adjustment to their familial risk status may also have an adverse effect on their interpersonal relationship with the mother, contributing to unmet patient needs and conflicted support. Such occurrences can impede a cancer patient’s recovery. This presentation will discuss how women’s perception of their cancer risk effects the quality of their careprovision to their elderly mother. It will also examine the impact of the quality of the patient-caregiver relationship on the older patient’s psychological functioning. The data is drawn from interviews conducted with a sample patient-caregiving daughter dyads (n=40).
Learning Objectives: Attendees will
Keywords: Breast Cancer, Aging
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.