South Asian Women with Breast Cancer: What are Their Needs?
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Increasing numbers of South Asian women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year; however, no previous studies have assessed the psychosocial and practical needs of this growing population. Consequently, few culturally appropriate, in-language services are available to assist them. South Asians are the third largest Asian group in the US and California has the largest population of South Asians of any state. Previous research has demonstrated that one size does not fit all when it comes to approaching ethnic minority communities. Given the uniqueness of this population it is likely that they have distinct needs and would benefit from a tailored intervention. This pilot study will assess the needs of South Asian women with breast cancer and outline the essential components of an intervention to meet these needs.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 A needs assessment study is usually not designed for hypothesis testing, but rather for discovery of relationships and for hypothesis generation. However, we anticipate that the data collected during this pilot project will help to answer the following research questions:
 
 1. What are the needs of South Asian women with breast cancer?
 
 2. What are the most effective and culturally appropriate means of reaching South Asian women diagnosed with breast cancer and assisting them at the time of diagnosis through survivorship?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 We will recruit 40 South Asian women, diagnosed with breast cancer within the past 5 years, from four of the largest South Asian groups in Los Angeles (Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi) to participate in individual interviews. Participants will be recruited through established relationships with South Asian community leaders and physicians. Interviews will be conducted by trained bilingual interviewers in each subject's native language. Interviews will assess psychosocial and practical needs as well as relevant cultural factors, psychological functioning, role functioning, physical status, and use of medical care from the time of diagnosis through survivorship. Ten key informant interviews will be conducted with South Asian community leaders to gain a broader perspective on these issues. Content and descriptive analyses will then be conducted to gain an understanding of the sample's needs and functioning. Finally, we will outline an intervention to be refined and evaluated in a second study, potentially through a CRC Full Award.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 No previous studies have assessed the needs of South Asian women diagnosed with breast cancer. Thus, few culturally appropriate and in-language services have been developed for this growing population. This study will provide the information necessary to outline an intervention to meet the needs of South Asian women with breast cancer and build the infrastructure to implement and evaluate this intervention in a future study. Although initial research efforts involving ethnic minority groups are most successful when tailored to the target ethnic group, results from studies such as the one proposed here have application to the broader population of women with breast cancer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 To conduct this project, UCLA investigators, Dr. Beth Glenn and Dr. Roshan Bastani have partnered with Mr. Zul Surani and Ms. Jina Peiris, of Saath: South Asian Cancer Foundation, a non-profit community organization dedicated to assisting South Asians with cancer from diagnosis through survivorship. Saath and UCLA will function as equal partners in conducting the proposed project. We will involve the broader South Asian community in all phases of the project. We have established a community advisory network including physicians, community, and religious leaders from each of the South Asian groups represented by the study. These individuals are well connected within their respective communities and will be in contact with these communities throughout the study to elicit their input and to ensure the dissemination of the results following study completion. We will also conduct key informant interviews with community leaders to solicit their input about the best way to reach this population and the most culturally appropriate method of intervening.