Africana Studies Department, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Asian American Studies, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway, EP 103, San Francisco, CA, 94132, USA.
Support Care Cancer. 2019 Jul;27(7):2625-2632. doi: 10.1007/s00520-018-4538-x. Epub 2018 Nov 23.
While all cancer patients face a bewildering array of treatments, side effects, and emotions, several researchers have shown that African American women with breast cancer experience greater stress and burdens because of unmet supportive needs associated with psychological distress, financial distress, and lower physical/functional well-being. Social support has been shown to improve health outcomes for African American breast cancer patients. The purpose of this paper is to understand the meaning of social support among African American women diagnosed with breast cancer. A total of 47 African American women with breast cancer participated in the in-depth qualitative interviews. Key findings indicate that social support was received in the context of the stability of the extended family network. Moreover, social support was received in the context of distributing the social support received among many members in their personal networks and that social support was only received on patient's own terms. The findings of this paper provide an understanding to the inter-relational and cultural meanings of receiving support by diverse cancer patients. In addition, the findings of this paper have implications for health care professionals working with African American breast cancer patients in understanding how social support can be received.
虽然所有癌症患者都面临着令人困惑的治疗方法、副作用和情绪，但有几位研究人员表明，非裔美国乳腺癌女性由于与心理困扰、经济困扰和较低的身体/功能健康相关的未满足的支持需求而经历更大的压力和负担。社会支持已被证明可以改善非裔美国乳腺癌患者的健康结果。本文旨在了解被诊断患有乳腺癌的非裔美国女性对社会支持的含义。共有 47 名非裔美国乳腺癌女性参与了深入的定性访谈。主要发现表明，社会支持是在扩展家庭网络稳定的背景下获得的。此外，社会支持是在其个人网络中的许多成员之间分配所获得的社会支持的背景下获得的，并且仅在患者自己的条件下获得社会支持。本文的研究结果提供了对不同癌症患者接受支持的相互关系和文化意义的理解。此外，本文的研究结果对与非裔美国乳腺癌患者合作的医疗保健专业人员具有重要意义，他们可以了解如何接受社会支持。
