Mental Health Psychosocial Findings from 600 Native Cancer Survivors

Native American Cancer Education for Survivors" (NACES) is designed to improve the quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients by increasing knowledge and informed choice using innovative, tailored web-based technology. The intervention is based on the Medicine Wheel (body, mind, emotions, spirits) and includes the following components: spirituality, communication, treatment, clinical trials, side effects, palliative care, other health problems, supportive care and resources. Trained Native Patient Advocates implement a four-part QOL survey and the intervention. The survivor may also use the survey and intervention independently. The education intervention is easy-to-understand (reading level grades 5 to 7) and can be tailored to the individual survivor. By winter 2010, more than 600 Native American cancer survivors have completed the QOL survey. 81.8% (n=446) of the participants self-reported their mental health as okay or excellent and almost all (n=519; 93.7%) said their life was satisfying. Almost half (n=262; 47.5%) said they were happy a few days to most days each week. The majority (n=491. 71.5%) felt they had fair to good control over their cancer. However, almost two-thirds (n=358; 65.3%) reported their lives as very or fairly stressful. Also, disconcertingly, a large proportion (n=239; 43.9%) reported their lives served little to no usefulness. Although the survivors documented many challenges, more importantly, they reported a message of hope and most (87.1%) said they were mentally able to do most or everything they wanted or needed to do daily. Data about how their cancer diagnosis affected others will be shared.