Gruner Morgan, Brown Katherine, Anderson Renee, James Shaunequa, Li Xuan, Henning-Smith Carrie, Blaes Anne, Jewett Patricia, Vogel Rachel I
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women's Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Gilda's Club, Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA.
J Rural Health. 2025 Jun;41(3):e70066. doi: 10.1111/jrh.70066.
Individuals diagnosed with cancer have extensive and often unmet psychosocial support needs. We established a partnership between the University of Minnesota and Gilda's Club to identify survivorship issues, unmet psychosocial support needs, and barriers to receiving cancer support in rural Minnesota.
We conducted six focus groups and 16 interviews (41 total participants) between November 2022 and January 2024 among cancer survivors living in rural Minnesota. Structured interview guides included questions about survivors' definition of cancer support, what community support is desired and available, and barriers to obtaining support. Transcripts were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.
The mean participant age was 57.1 ± 13.4 years; the majority were female (68%), non-Hispanic White (95%), and college graduates (58%), and they represented many cancer diagnoses, with hematologic (20%) and breast cancers (17%) most frequently reported. Most (73%) were under surveillance (median 4 years from diagnosis). Many participants mentioned extensive travel burdens due to lack of local care, and virtually all participants agreed emotional support was critical. Over half (56%) of participants wished for peer support that they did not have, and 44% said their cancer information needs were insufficiently addressed. Some emphasized that having nurses facilitating care coordination and options for local care made care feel more personalized. Participants identified virtual options for cancer support as potentially beneficial, particularly when meeting in person was not possible.
Lack of peer support, lack of local care, and travel burdens are significant concerns among rural cancer survivors. Participants expressed positive views about their rural residence and mentioned alternatives and rural strengths such as virtual support options, help from nurses, and caring relationships in their communities.
被诊断患有癌症的个体有着广泛且往往未得到满足的心理社会支持需求。我们在明尼苏达大学和吉尔达俱乐部之间建立了合作伙伴关系，以确定明尼苏达州农村地区癌症幸存者面临的问题、未得到满足的心理社会支持需求以及获得癌症支持的障碍。
2022年11月至2024年1月期间，我们对居住在明尼苏达州农村的癌症幸存者进行了6次焦点小组讨论和16次访谈（共41名参与者）。结构化访谈指南包括关于幸存者对癌症支持的定义、期望和可获得的社区支持以及获得支持的障碍等问题。使用归纳主题分析法对访谈记录进行分析。
参与者的平均年龄为57.1±13.4岁；大多数为女性（68%）、非西班牙裔白人（95%）和大学毕业生（58%），他们代表了多种癌症诊断类型，其中血液系统癌症（20%）和乳腺癌（17%）报告最为频繁。大多数（73%）处于监测期（自诊断起中位数为4年）。许多参与者提到由于缺乏当地医疗服务而带来的沉重出行负担，几乎所有参与者都认为情感支持至关重要。超过一半（56%）的参与者希望获得但未得到同伴支持，44%的参与者表示他们对癌症信息的需求未得到充分满足。一些人强调，有护士协助护理协调以及提供当地护理选择会使护理感觉更具个性化。参与者认为癌症支持的虚拟选项可能有益，特别是在无法亲自见面的情况下。
缺乏同伴支持、缺乏当地医疗服务和出行负担是农村癌症幸存者的重大关切。参与者对他们在农村的居住环境表达了积极看法，并提到了一些替代方案以及农村的优势，如虚拟支持选项、护士的帮助以及社区中的关爱关系。
