Breast and prostate cancers are the most commonly diagnosed forms of cancer in women and men in the United States. The federal government has played an active role in dedicating resources toward breast and prostate cancers since the early 1990s, when policy actors successfully lobbied Congress to adopt policies that increased awareness and spending. Using theories of social construction, I argue that the key to their success was the ability of these policy actors to socially construct the illnesses of breast and prostate cancers into politically attractive public issues that appealed to federal policymakers. Through the use of embedded collective case study and content analysis of newspaper coverage and congressional data, this dissertation demonstrates how the social constructions of these illnesses impacted the way that breast and prostate cancers were treated as they moved through the policy process. The way in which social construction influenced the types of policies that were adopted to deal with these illnesses is also examined. Because social construction is a multidimensional and dynamic process, several different elements of this process were examined in this dissertation: the ways that policy actors attracted attention to these illnesses, how gender influenced advocacy efforts, the symbolic aspects of these illnesses, and the way the illnesses were defined on systemic and institutional agendas. Since this dissertation examines two different policy issues, the similarities and differences in breast and prostate cancer policymaking were analyzed. I found that discussing breast and prostate cancers in relation to their social constructions provides support for the importance of symbolism and non-rational policy-making processes. / by Jocilyn Martinez. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

It is estimated that nearly 14.5 million Americans are living with cancer today. A commonly overlooked component to quality cancer care, as defined by the Institute of Medicine, is the role of psychological and social support. Better known as psychosocial support, these needs reflect a broad spectrum of obstacles or assets in an individual’s personal life that may help or hinder their healing experience. Some psychosocial examples include coping skills, transportation to medical appointments, or appropriate knowledge to mitigate the physical impacts of the cancer process. Research has shown that by addressing these potential needs, a better health outcome may be achieved for cancer patients. Through participant observation at local psychosocial service establishments and through semi-structured interviews with service providers and adults diagnosed with cancer living in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, this thesis research seeks to explore how local cancer patients are learning of psychosocial services available to them, what barriers may exist in accessing these services, and what individuals may be doing to address their psychosocial needs, both formally or informally. Results yielded recommendations for local psychosocial providers to adjust their marketing of services and kinds of services offered as well as yielded recommendations for future academic research.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Community Medicine / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study used a qualitative research design to explore and identify, from participant's perspective, the aspects of a breast cancer support group that facilitate a quality experience of support.

Existing research on health disparities in breast cancer is heavily focused on outcomes for poor or low-income women. Little is known about the experience of privately insured Black breast cancer patients that have moderate to high SES. As a result, the present study was conducted to learn more about their experiences. It examines differences in physician prescribing of two breast cancer pain treatments, peripheral nerve block (PNB) and opioids, for Black and White women with like levels of health insurance coverage and socioeconomic status (SES). Three specific questions are addressed: 1. What, if any, race-based disparities exist in usage of PNBs at time of total mastectomy? 2. What, if any, race based disparities exist in the prescription of opioids for postoperative pain following total mastectomy? 3. What, if any, changes have occurred in the frequency of orders placed for PNBs and prescription opioids over time, to treat postoperative pain resulting from mastectomy? A cross-sectional designed was used relying on an existing national dataset, Optum Clinformatics Data Mart. The study period was January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2019. Study results revealed that while moderate to higher SES Black women have equitable access to PNB and opioids - a kind of shield from long established physician bias against Black women – this protection is quite porous. They still do not have open and ready access to PNB as a more advanced pain treatment. Nor do they have assurance that they are protected from the overprescribing of opioids, a class of drugs with serious and well-known safety risks. Therefore, on the surface, it appears that equity and racial inclusion are hallmarks of physician prescribing of postoperative breast cancer pain treatment. However, further interrogation reveals that ‘separate and somewhat equal’ is a more accurate characterization of their prescribing practices, based both on race and SES.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Due to changes in UK and Scottish policy and NHS directives, there have been many changes and improvements in the way information is provided to patients affected by cancer and their families over the last decade. The information provided should be accurate, detailed and tailored to the individual’s needs across the whole of their cancer trajectory. People affected by laryngeal cancer could be classed as a “Cinderella” group as there is a lack of research with this group of patients and their families, in comparison to other types of cancer, even though the impact of treatment can have a profound and debilitating effect on the individual and their family’s quality of life. How this group of patients and their families use and source information to help them make sense of their experiences across their trajectory is unknown, therefore this study explored the role of information based on the experiences of people affected by laryngeal cancer across their cancer trajectory. The study adopted an interpretive prospective longitudinal approach, using two in-depth qualitative interviews with twenty patients and eighteen carers from across the main treatment pathways associated with this type of cancer. The data were analysed using Framework Analysis and influenced by Dingwall’s Illness Action Model. Four broad thematic headings were developed to explain the role of information: “Search for Normality”, “Illusion of Certainty”, “Reality of Uncertainty” and “Culture of Caring”. Relationships were identified between these headings at four key stages across the cancer trajectory. The ii broad theme “Search for Normality” overarched the whole of the cancer trajectory explaining how information was sourced and used to help this group understand their experience of symptoms. The main findings from the study show that two broad categories of information are used: information from health professionals and experiential information from one’s own and others’ experiential knowledge of health and illness. Both categories of information are sourced and used in different ways at different stages over the course of the trajectory and become inextricably linked over time. The study shows that information is not an entity that can be studied on its own but needs to be studied and explained in the ways it is situated, used and experienced within the context of the complex needs and experiences of this group of patients and their families. This study is the first longitudinal study to provide an explanation of the role of information with people affected by laryngeal cancer across their cancer trajectory. The findings show how the different types of information used from the various sources influence how people affected by laryngeal cancer perceive and understand their diagnosis, treatment and the outcome of treatment. The study findings suggest that health professionals need to situate information in the context of the individual’s understanding and prior knowledge of health and illness to ensure that it does not set unrealistic expectations, with a clear need for continuity and supportive care identified in the post-treatment and follow-up phases.

Background: The relationship between informational support and use of health care services among individuals newly diagnosed with cancer remains little documented despite its importance for optimal care delivery. Aim: To document the role of informational support in light of patterns of health services used by women and men newly diagnosed with cancer. Method: A sequential mixed methods approach (i.e., quantitative-qualitative) was conducted among women and men newly diagnosed with either breast or prostate cancer. First, an existing quantitative database was used to determine whether an intervention relying on multimedia tool as a complement to the provision of usual cancer informational support to patients (N = 250) would modify subsequent health care service use. A follow-up qualitative inquiry with distinct individuals also newly diagnosed (N = 20) was conducted to explore this relationship further. Next, the resulting quantitative and qualitative findings were merged and reanalyzed using a quantitative-hierarchical approach to enhance our understanding of the phenomenon. Findings: Several personal and contextual factors were found to qualify the relationship between cancer informational support and health service use. Although quantitative analyses showed no significant differences in terms of overall reliance on health care services among participants who received more intense cancer informational support as opposed to those who received care as usual, several sex differences were noted in terms of number of visits to health care professionals, time spent with nurses and satisfaction with cancer information received. Qualitative findings revealed that participants reported a variety of experiences pertaining to cancer information received (e.g., positive, unsupportive or mixed) as well as several processes at play (e.g., cancer information seen as enabling, confirming, or conflicting). These differences in informational support, in turn, influenced their subsequent service utilization (e.g., more phone calls made to health professionals, reduction in face-to-face visits, reluctance to use cancer-related services). The mixed data analysis clarified further the findings allowing a broader perspective to emerge. Conclusion: Findings underscore that the relationship between cancer information and use of services is not as straightforward as initially anticipated. These findings provide initial insights that may inform future research on the topic and assist health care providers in optimizing their cancer informational interventions to guide patients in their reliance on health care services.

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