Making the Tough Decisions About Cancer Treatment
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MAKING THE TOUGH DECISIONS ABOUT CANCER TREATMENT
Nurse Researcher Seeks Insights into How Decisions are Made
As an African American nurse with a background in hospice care, Cathy Campbell, PhD, APRN, has wondered about how older African Americans in rural areas make decisions about medical care and other treatments for advanced cancer. Why do some people decide to pursue hospice care at home and others do not? Why do some seek aggressive treatment and others prefer to simply manage symptoms, especially pain? Now as an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia School of Nursing, she is the Principal Investigator in a study to learn more about how these difficult decisions are made. With funding from a pilot grant from the UVA School of Nursing’s Rural Health Care Research Center, she is collaborating with colleagues at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing. The Rural Health Care Research Center is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health Institute of Nursing Research (NINR P20-NR009009-01).
Dr. Campbell is seeking participants for her study Factors influencing decision-making by rural dwelling elderly African-Americans with advanced cancer. While they will be paid $30 to provide as many as two one-hour interviews, she has learned that there is a stronger motivation among those who express interest in working with her research study.
As she has observed, “People going through such distressing times have told us they appreciate the opportunity to talk about their experiences. Sometimes they find it easier to talk with us than with their loved ones for whom they just want to be strong.” But another powerful reason is also expressed. “Often people tell us they want to make their experience count for someone else. If they can share their wisdom and help others going through such difficulties, then they have found some comfort and value in their own suffering.”
To illustrate the strength of that desire to help others, Dr. Campbell describes a situation with an elderly man who lived on a farm about 60 miles from the University. When she and a colleague tried to call him to confirm their interview appointment before they left the office, they found his telephone out of order and had no idea whether he would even be home when they arrived after their long drive. They found him waiting for them by his mailbox and eager to give them a brief tour of his field of flourishing collard greens and other crops before he settled in to do the interview from the seat of his tractor where he felt most comfortable.
If you are an African American man or woman 55 years of age or older who has been diagnosed with cancer as a life limiting illness (Stage 3 or 4), you may be eligible to participate in the study. For more information, contact Cathy Campbell toll free at the Rural Health Care Research Center 1-866-807-2816 or clc5t@virginia.edu OR contact Tamara Orr, PhD, RN at Virginia Commonwealth University at 804-628-4677 or torr@mcvh-vcy.edu.
The University of Virginia School of Nursing stands among the top 5% in the nation, ranked 19th by US News & World Report; two of its graduate programs are currently listed in the U.S. News Top Ten. With a vigorous research program that includes studies in rural health care and disparities, oncology, gerontology, complementary therapies and nursing history, the School is ranked 22nd in National Institutes of Health nursing research funding and #1 in the country for doctoral-student authored NRSA Fellowships. The School has implemented new programs and strategies to address the national nursing shortage and the concurrent need for more highly educated nurses to deliver increasingly complex health care. Dean and Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor Jeanette Lancaster, PhD, RN, FAAN, is president of the prestigious American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). For more information about the UVA School of Nursing and its programs, visit www.nursing.virginia.edu.