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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Ellen Lopez, PhD, MPH¹, Mary Ann Burg Burg, LCSW, PhD², Ife Nelson¹, Kellee Campbell¹, and Gail Adorno³. (1) Public Health Programs, University of Florida, 6131 NW 23rd Lane, Gainesville, FL 32606, 352-273-5361, elopez@phhp.ufl.edu, (2) Dept. of Community Health & Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, 9837 SW 67th Drive, Gainesville, FL 32608, (3) Shands&UF, P.O. Box 100306, Gainesville, FL 32610

Background/Significance: Cancer survivors have long been described as an “underserved population,” especially survivors residing in rural communities. Because they often live in medically underserved areas, rural breast cancer survivors are at risk for being lost to follow-up for their cancer-related side effects. Additionally, many rural residents are impoverished and thus are more likely to experience compromised health in general, adding to the potential of poor quality of life post-cancer treatment. The lack of attention directed toward the needs of rural breast cancer survivors in conjunction with the dearth of post-treatment support resources available to them emphasizes the challenge of clarifying the personal and environmental context for long-term survival and quality of life.

Objective/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to elucidate the factors that impact quality of life from the perspectives of rural breast cancer survivors

Methods: In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 women residing in 10 rural North Central Florida counties. With the goal of planning targeted interventions, constructs from the public health program-planning framework, PRECEDE, were used to guide the interviews and their qualitative analysis.

Results and Discussion: We will report the key interview themes that emerged during qualitative analysis, and present the factors that impact rural survivorship quality of life as organized into a useful program-planning framework. We will also discuss the implications of the framework for use by researchers, survivors, and community-based organizations in forging collaborative partnerships with the goal of identifying opportunities for enabling rural breast cancer survivors to achieve and maintain maximum QOL.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• Understand the factors identified by breast cancer survivors in rural North Central Florida that impact their ability to achieve and maintain maximum quality of life.
• Describe these factors as organized into the public health program-planning framework, PRECEDE.
• Use the PRECEDE framework to identify opportunities for researchers, survivors, and community-based organizations to collaborate in addressing the needs of rural breast cancer survivors.

Keywords: Breast Cancer, Rural Communities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation