Do Community Cancer Groups Enhance Well-being?
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: This study is designed to evaluate whether breast cancer patients who have had past traumatic experiences have more difficulty adjusting to breast cancer than women who have not had such experiences, and whether cancer support groups improve their quality of life by allowing them to discuss their thoughts and feelings with others who are supportive. It is embedded within a larger BCRP-funded study designed to assess the strengths and weaknesses of two different community-based support group interventions for breast cancer patients which will be compared to a model developed in the university setting to study which aspects are most effective and who benefits the most. This proposal will benefit from the collaborative relationship between Stanford, The Wellness Community, and Cancer Support Community, two major cancer support programs providing group interventions for women with breast cancer in Northern California.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Because women with breast cancer who have a history of trauma are thought to have greater social, emotional, and physical stress, it is important for us to learn how community cancer support groups can improve quality of life for these women and to identify which groups work best. There is growing evidence that group programs may both improve the quality and extend the quantity of life for breast cancer patients. This study will enable us to refine and improve group interventions, and better match specific ones to those who will most benefit. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ninety-six women with recently diagnosed breast cancer at the Cancer Support Community in San Francisco and The Wellness Community-East Bay in Walnut Creek will be asked to participate in the study. They will be randomly assigned at each site to the community group program or the Supportive-Expressive group therapy and asked to fill out questionnaires about their trauma history, emotional distress, social and family support, background, and evaluation of their group experience every four months for a year. They will also be asked to write about their thoughts and feelings about breast cancer and to provide saliva samples to measure their physiological response to stress. This information will be used to determine how well these groups work and for whom they work best.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 There is a growing body of evidence that participating in support groups improves the quality of life of breast cancer patients. The existence of community support programs provides a means of offering such effective support rapidly and inexpensively, making it available to diverse populations of breast cancer patients. The combination of this community-based effort and university research program provides the potential for improving all of these programs and evidence to support health policy changes. This could lead to improved programs of group support throughout the state of California, offering comfort, guidance, and support to all women coping with breast cancer.