Background: Palliative care (PC) is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification, impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems like physical, psychosocial and…

The role of the modern radiation therapist is directed and driven by the organizational system. Changes affecting their role are implemented as a response to changes in the industry. Operations of the modern cancer center, with new and changing treatment technologies bring questions regarding the learning process of radiation therapists at a time…

Objective: We conducted a study comparing anxiety and depression by sexual orientation in long-term breast cancer survivors, testing the hypothesis that sexual minority women (e.g., lesbian and bisexual women) have greater levels of anxiety and depression. Method: From a state cancer registry, we recruited 257 heterosexual and 69 sexual minority…

Background: This study explored the characteristics of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients who accessed Internet-based health information as part of their symptom appraisal process prior to consulting a health care provider. Method: Newly diagnosed CRC patients who experienced symptoms prior to diagnosis were interviewed. Brief COPE was used to…

The American College Health Association (ACHA) acknowledges and supports the findings of the Surgeon General that tobacco use in any form, active and/or passive, is a significant health hazard. ACHA further recognizes that environmental tobacco smoke has been classified as a Class-A carcinogen and that there is no safe level of exposure to…

A multidisciplinary team from the health and culinary sectors developed and evaluated nutritious recipes for cancer-survivors to inform and support healthy eating post-cancer. Participants in the study indicated that they were likely to incorporate the recipes into their diets, and that it would help them change their eating habits. (Contains 1…

There is a growing emphasis on the role of organizations as settings for dissemination and implementation. Only recently has the field begun to consider features of organizations that affect dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions. This manuscript identifies and evaluates available measures for five key…

Early detection of breast cancer and its subsequent treatment lead to better patient prognosis and survival rates. However, despite advanced screening and detection techniques, the disease all too frequently remains undetected until it has reached an advanced stage. Despite a number of means of disseminating breast cancer awareness, such as public…

Individuals diagnosed with head and neck cancer (HNC) not only face a potentially life-threatening diagnosis but must endure treatment that often results in significant, highly visible disfigurement and disruptions of essential functioning, such as deficits or complications in eating, swallowing, breathing, and speech. Each year, approximately…

Background: Coalitions are often the strategy of choice when needs are great, resources are few, and individual efforts have proven unsuccessful in addressing serious health issues. Despite the widespread use of coalitions and extensive research, no definitive list of factors predicting coalition success has been identified. One factor, social…

Quality of life (QoL) is affected by issues specific to illness trajectory and thus, may differ, and potentially take on different meanings, at different stages in the cancer process. A widely used measure of QoL is the SF-36 Health Survey (SF-36; Ware 1993); therefore, support for its appropriateness in a given population is imperative. The…

Background: Lack of education is a known barrier to vaccination, but data on the design and effectiveness of interventions remain limited. Objective: This study aims to identify the effectiveness of a Facebook-assisted teaching method on female adolescents' knowledge and attitudes about cervical cancer prevention and on their human papillomavirus…

Decisions about treatment and options for care at the end stage of an advanced chronic illness are important determinants of the quality of a person's death and of how family members adapt in bereavement. This article describes the steps taken to secure federal funding to study how people make the decision to enroll in hospice. The National…

Cervical cancer is preventable with treatment of precancerous lesions and treatable at early stages. Hispanics have higher rates of cervical cancer and lower rates of screening. "Ayndando a las Mujeres con Informaccion, Guia, y Amor para su Salud" (AMIGAS) is an intervention to increase cervical cancer screening in U.S. women of Mexican…

We present a 3-step approach to defining latent growth components. In the first step, a measurement model with at least 2 indicators for each time point is formulated to identify measurement error variances and obtain latent variables that are purged from measurement error. In the second step, we use contrast matrices to define the latent growth…