Abstract B066: Empowering Black and Latine breast/ovarian cancer survivors with lower quality of life through community-based patient navigation programs
Authors: Sleiman Marcelo , Oruganty Dheeraj , Fleischmann Adina , Liu Mingqian , Arumani Sahana , Tercyak Kenneth 
Published: September 2024

Community-based organizations (CBOs) offer essential health information and support through programming directed toward women at-risk for and surviving with breast/ovarian cancer. This includes services delivered to women of color–who are more likely to have unmet medical and psychosocial needs, and high social determinants of health burdens. Yet, little is known about the effectiveness of CBO’s programs and services on these women’s levels of empowerment (e.g., their perceived control, self-efficacy, knowledge/skills, and coping with cancer risk, treatment, and survivorship) that could impact the outcomes of their cancer care. To study this, we conducted a secondary data analysis among N=124 breast/ovarian cancer survivors identifying as Black and/or Latine participating in CBO-led cancer control activities, and assessed their care satisfaction, quality of life, patient navigation, and empowerment. Patient empowerment was high: most women of color (M age=50, 54% Black, 48% Latine) felt more informed (75%) and confident (75%) in managing their care following program engagement. Care quality was also very high (87%), and perceived as: recommendable to others (94%), helpful (91%), informative (92%), timely (90%), reliable (91%), supportive (91%), and effective (91%). Regarding care satisfaction, these underrepresented women felt supported by abundant resources (93%) and programs (95%), understood (93%), and helped (91%) by the CBOs programs. Regarding quality of life, 69% were in fair/poor health and 24% endorsed frequent mental distress–with an average of 9.1 physically unhealthy days, 9.4 mentally unhealthy days, and 7.8 activity-limited days in the past month. Disparities in empowerment were observed as a function of survivors’ navigation experiences and physical/mental well-being, as empowerment was highest among those who benefited more from patient navigation (r=.58, p&lt;.001), and had poorer quality of life (r=-.44, p&lt;.001). In a multivariable model controlling for satisfaction with CBO-led cancer control, both patient navigation (B=.81, SE=.13, p&lt;.001) and quality of life (B=-.18, SE=.07, p&lt;.005) were associated with survivors’ experience of empowerment: those who rated their patient navigation experience more highly, and those who were more impaired, felt most empowered. Community cancer control empowers Black and Latine breast/ovarian cancer survivors: addressing disparities, through programs such as patient navigation, could enhance their effectiveness, and particularly for those with lower quality of life. Behavioral and Social Science: Socioeconomic Influences

Citation Format: Marcelo Sleiman Jr, Dheeraj Oruganty, Adina Fleischmann, Mingqian Liu, Sahana Arumani, Kenneth Tercyak. Empowering Black and Latine breast/ovarian cancer survivors with lower quality of life through community-based patient navigation programs [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr B066.