How Do Tangible Supports Impact the Breast Cancer Experience?

A woman’s ability to navigate her new role as a breast cancer patient can be impacted by the support she has available to her during this time. One form of social support, tangible support, refers to providing support in a physical way that assists an individual in meeting their role responsibilities. The Roy Adaptation Model was used as a framework for conceptualizing the various roles in a woman’s life that can be impacted by breast cancer and how the type and extent of tangible support impacts these roles. Through a qualitative open-ended interview, 33 women with breast cancer described their experiences with their illness as it pertains to issues of role function and tangible supports

Similarities in Coping Strategies but Differences in Sources of Support Among African American and White Women Coping with Breast Cancer

African American women are less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than white women but are more likely to be adversely affected. However, little attention has been paid to how these women cope with the disease or whether they differ from white women in coping with breast cancer. Using a comparative design, this study analyzed the differences in coping strategies and use of social support between African American and white women with breast cancer. Findings suggest that both groups tend to seek social support as a way of coping with their breast cancer but differ in their sources of support. Social workers are urged to consider that there may be differences in sources of social support between racially and ethnically diverse populations. These differences may have an impact on the type of support provided and therefore on patients\u27 need for service

African-American and White Women’s Appraisal of their Breast Cancer

African-American women are less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than are White women but are more likely to be adversely affected. Although differences in incidence and mortality have been explored in some depth, little attention has been paid to how these women cope with the disease or whether their appraisal of their breast cancer differs from that of White women. Using a comparative design, this study analyzed the differences in appraisal between African-American and White women with breast cancer. The findings suggest that no differences exist between African-American and White women’s appraisal of their breast cancer. The type of primary appraisal used most by both groups was harm to their health, safety, and physical well-being. The secondary appraisal used most was that breast cancer was an experience they had to accept. Possible links between appraisal and cognitive representations of illness and suggestions for further research on the appraisal are discussed

Introducing FIELD: Field Instructors Extending EBP Learning in Dyads

Field Instructors Extending EBP Learning in Dyads (FIELD) has been crafted in consideration of the social work profession’s need for innovative and collaborative models with field education that further evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation efforts. FIELD is driven by the continuing education interests of field instructors and the availability of local expertise, and it embraces the complementary strengths of students and field instructors. Herein, we provide the background for the development of such a curricula model and delineate model components. FIELD may offer a viable curricula option for synchronizing academic and field efforts toward sustainable social work workforce improvements

Crossing Cultural Barriers in Research Interviewing

This article critically examines a qualitative research interview in which cultural barriers between a white non-Muslim female interviewer and an African American Muslim interviewee, both from the USA, became evident and were overcome within the same interview. This interview and two follow-up interviews are presented as a \u27telling case\u27 about crossing cultural barriers. The analysis focuses on seven phases of the interview (cultural barriers, warming up, crossing the racial barrier, connecting as social workers, connecting as women, connecting as students, and crossing the tape recorder barrier). The discussion outlines the pre-interview and during-interview barriers and facilitating conditions and related implications for cross-cultural qualitative research interviewing

A genetic algorithm

Castelli, M., Dondi, R., Manzoni, S., Mauri, G., & Zoppis, I. (2019). Top k 2-clubs in a network: A genetic algorithm. In J. J. Dongarra, J. M. F. Rodrigues, P. J. S. Cardoso, J. Monteiro, R. Lam, V. V. Krzhizhanovskaya, M. H. Lees, ... P. M. A. Sloot (Eds.), Computational Science. ICCS 2019: 19th International Conference, 2019, Proceedings (Vol. 5, pp. 656-663). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 11540 LNCS). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22750-0_63The identification of cohesive communities (dense sub-graphs) is a typical task applied to the analysis of social and biological networks. Different definitions of communities have been adopted for particular occurrences. One of these, the 2-club (dense subgraphs with diameter value at most of length 2) has been revealed of interest for applications and theoretical studies. Unfortunately, the identification of 2-clubs is a computationally intractable problem, and the search of approximate solutions (at a reasonable time) is therefore fundamental in many practical areas. In this article, we present a genetic algorithm based heuristic to compute a collection of Top k 2-clubs, i.e., a set composed by the largest k 2-clubs which cover an input graph. In particular, we discuss some preliminary results for synthetic data obtained by sampling Erdös-Rényi random graphs.authorsversionpublishe

The psychosocial experiences of breast cancer amongst Black, South Asian and White survivors: do differences exist between ethnic groups?

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Background: Very little UK-based research has examined breast cancer-related experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic populations, and we do not know whether the psychosocial impact of diagnosis and treatment in this group is any different to that of White women. Therefore, this study examined similarities and differences amongst Black, South Asian and White breast cancer survivors. Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was conducted; 173 breast cancer survivors (80 White, 53 South Asian and 40 Black) completed a questionnaire, which assessed psychological functioning, social support, body image and beliefs about cancer. Results: Significant differences (p < 0.05) were reported between White and South Asian participants: compared with White women, South Asian participants reported higher levels of anxiety and depression, poorer quality of life and held higher levels of internal and fatalistic beliefs pertaining to cancer. Black and South Asian women reported higher levels of body image concerns than White women, and held stronger beliefs that God was in control of their cancer. South Asian women turned to religion as a source of support more than Black and White women. Conclusion: This study enhances current understanding of the experience and impact of breast cancer amongst Black and South Asian women, and demonstrates similarities and differences between the ethnic groups. The findings highlight implications for healthcare professionals, particularly in relation to providing culturally sensitive care and support to their patients. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd