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Psychosocial Experiences, Challenges, and Coping Strategies of Chinese–Australian Women with Breast Cancer

OBJECTIVE: Chinese migrant women with breast cancer are at risk of poorer psychosocial outcomes. However, little is known about the cancer-related challenges experienced by these women, or how they self-manage their concerns. This qualitative study aims to explore the experience of breast cancer for...

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Autores principales: Levesque, Janelle V., Gerges, Martha, Girgis, Afaf
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7233569/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32478131
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/apjon.apjon_53_19
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author Levesque, Janelle V.
Gerges, Martha
Girgis, Afaf
author_facet Levesque, Janelle V.
Gerges, Martha
Girgis, Afaf
author_sort Levesque, Janelle V.
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: Chinese migrant women with breast cancer are at risk of poorer psychosocial outcomes. However, little is known about the cancer-related challenges experienced by these women, or how they self-manage their concerns. This qualitative study aims to explore the experience of breast cancer for Chinese–Australian women and gain insight into their coping behaviors. METHODS: Twenty-four Chinese–Australian women, previously diagnosed with breast cancer, participated in a semi-structured interview or focus group session, conducted in the participant's preferred language. Qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three main themes emerged, reflecting the psychological impact of the diagnosis, the challenges experienced, and the use of social support and other coping behaviors. The theme of psychological impact highlighted the emotional toll of diagnosis and the ongoing anxiety surrounding the fear of cancer recurrence. The theme of challenges identified stressors relating to treatment side effects and the need for psychological support. The social support and coping theme identified the various levels of social support participants received and how Chinese–Australian women may limit their use of social support to protect others. Participants used several behavioral (e.g., diet and exercise) and cognitive (e.g., reframing) strategies to cope with their cancer experience. CONCLUSIONS: Chinese–Australian women with breast cancer face significant challenges that impact on their psychological well-being. Varying levels of social support, and the desire to protect others through self-sacrifice, may reflect the cultural expectations of women. The results highlight the need for cultural understanding when developing strategies that optimally support Chinese migrant women with breast cancer.
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spelling pubmed-72335692020-05-28 Psychosocial Experiences, Challenges, and Coping Strategies of Chinese–Australian Women with Breast Cancer Levesque, Janelle V. Gerges, Martha Girgis, Afaf Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs Original Article OBJECTIVE: Chinese migrant women with breast cancer are at risk of poorer psychosocial outcomes. However, little is known about the cancer-related challenges experienced by these women, or how they self-manage their concerns. This qualitative study aims to explore the experience of breast cancer for Chinese–Australian women and gain insight into their coping behaviors. METHODS: Twenty-four Chinese–Australian women, previously diagnosed with breast cancer, participated in a semi-structured interview or focus group session, conducted in the participant's preferred language. Qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three main themes emerged, reflecting the psychological impact of the diagnosis, the challenges experienced, and the use of social support and other coping behaviors. The theme of psychological impact highlighted the emotional toll of diagnosis and the ongoing anxiety surrounding the fear of cancer recurrence. The theme of challenges identified stressors relating to treatment side effects and the need for psychological support. The social support and coping theme identified the various levels of social support participants received and how Chinese–Australian women may limit their use of social support to protect others. Participants used several behavioral (e.g., diet and exercise) and cognitive (e.g., reframing) strategies to cope with their cancer experience. CONCLUSIONS: Chinese–Australian women with breast cancer face significant challenges that impact on their psychological well-being. Varying levels of social support, and the desire to protect others through self-sacrifice, may reflect the cultural expectations of women. The results highlight the need for cultural understanding when developing strategies that optimally support Chinese migrant women with breast cancer. Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 2019-12-30 /pmc/articles/PMC7233569/ /pubmed/32478131 http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/apjon.apjon_53_19 Text en Copyright: © 2019 Ann & Joshua Medical Publishing Co. Ltd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
spellingShingle Original Article
Levesque, Janelle V.
Gerges, Martha
Girgis, Afaf
Psychosocial Experiences, Challenges, and Coping Strategies of Chinese–Australian Women with Breast Cancer
title Psychosocial Experiences, Challenges, and Coping Strategies of Chinese–Australian Women with Breast Cancer
title_full Psychosocial Experiences, Challenges, and Coping Strategies of Chinese–Australian Women with Breast Cancer
title_fullStr Psychosocial Experiences, Challenges, and Coping Strategies of Chinese–Australian Women with Breast Cancer
title_full_unstemmed Psychosocial Experiences, Challenges, and Coping Strategies of Chinese–Australian Women with Breast Cancer
title_short Psychosocial Experiences, Challenges, and Coping Strategies of Chinese–Australian Women with Breast Cancer
title_sort psychosocial experiences, challenges, and coping strategies of chinese–australian women with breast cancer
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7233569/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32478131
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/apjon.apjon_53_19
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