A Value-Based Approach to Increase Breast Cancer Screening and Health-Directed Behaviors among American Indian Women

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women have the lowest cancer-screening rate of any ethnic or racial group; AI/AN women in all regions are less likely than non-Hispanic white women to be diagnosed with localized breast cancer; and those AI/AN women presenting with breast cancer have the lowest 5-year survival rate compared to other ethnic groups. This study found that cultural beliefs are more of a factor in mammography screening behavior than other barriers such as access; and that a more holistic educational intervention designed by AI/AN women prompted individual intent and actions to seek mammograms among AI/AN women >40 and to change unhealthy eating and sedentary lifestyles

Provider perceptions and expectations of breast cancer posttreatment care: a University of California Athena Breast Health Network project

PURPOSE: The Athena Breast Health Network collaboration is a University of California system-wide project initiated with the intent to drive innovation in breast cancer prevention, screening and treatment. This qualitative research examines provider perceptions and expectations of post-treatment breast cancer care across five Network sites with the goal of better understanding provider behavior during the post-treatment phase of the cancer care trajectory. METHODS: Investigators at each site conducted semi-structured interviews with oncology specialists and primary care providers (PCPs). Interviews used case study examples and open- and closed-ended questions on the delivery of post-treatment breast cancer care. Informant responses were manually recorded by the interviewer, compiled in a database, then coded and analyzed using NVivo 9 software. RESULTS: There were 39 key informants across the sites: 14 medical oncologists, 7 radiation oncologists, 11 surgeons, 3 oncology nurses, and 4 PCPs. Care coordination was a major unprompted theme identified in the interviews. There was a perceived need for greater care coordination across institutions in order to improve delivery of post-treatment health care services and a need for greater care coordination within oncology, particularly to help avoid duplication of follow-up care and services. Participants expect frequent follow-up visits and to use biomarker tests and advanced imaging services as part of routine surveillance care. Implementing survivorship care programs was perceived as a way to improve care delivery. CONCLUSIONS: These results identify a need for increased focus on care coordination during the post-treatment phase of breast cancer care within the UC system, and the potential for system and provider level interventions that could help increase coordination of post-treatment care. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Breast cancer survivors do not always receive evidence-based care. This research helps to better understand what motivates provider behavior during the post-treatment phase and lays a foundation for targeted interventions to increase adherence to evidence-based recommendations