Young women face many stresses in life as they balance a personal life, a job and motherhood.
These tasks become much harder, however, when they are diagnosed with a serious illness such as breast cancer. These groups will be led by an oncology nurse and a health psychologist and will meet 1.5 hours once a month for four months. These groups will provide an opportunity for children to receive support and develop their skills for identifying and coping with feelings, getting along with others, learning about cancer, ways to solve problems and manage stress. To be eligible, women must be premenopausal and have been diagnosed with breast cancer in the past five years, have a partner and have children between the ages of 3 and 12. UPCI offers support groups for premenopausal women with breast cancer and their families as part of the research program.