141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

278813
Moving toward a new normal: Latinas supporting their husbands after prostatectomy for prostate cancer

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Kristen Williams , Department of Urology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Elisabeth Hicks, MA , School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Nancy Chang, MSN , School of Nursing, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Sarah E. Connor, MPH, CHES , Department of Urology, Health Services Research Group, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Mark S. Litwin, MD, MPH , Urology and Health Services, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Sally L. Maliski, RN, PhD, FAAN , School of Nursing and Department of Urology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Although intimate partners are understood to be important in the recovery and adjustment of men with prostate cancer, the vast majority of research addressing partners has included exclusively non-Hispanic White women. We interviewed 28 low-income Latinas caring for husbands with prostate cancer at three time points following his prostatectomy. We found themes of “Creating a Healing Environment,” “Moving Forward,” and “Reaching a New Normal,” at time points one, two, and three respectively. At time point one, women focused primarily on managing their husbands' environments and protecting them physically and emotionally through preparing healthy foods and concealing their emotions. These concerns still existed at time point two, but the focus began to shift toward the long term. Women emphasized the need for strength, patience, and understanding to keep their husbands moving through the recovery process, while noticing changes in their relationships and their husbands' personalities. At time point three, while some of the relationship changes remained, women described both their husbands and their lives as “normal.” They also spoke increasingly about managing their husbands' erectile dysfunction, often reframing it for their husbands as part of getting older, as a trade off for their lives, and as unimportant since they had already had children and been together so long. Our findings offer a framework for how Latinas manage and encourage their husbands' recovery which may assist in the development of materials and interventions for supporting this process.

Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Chronic disease management and prevention
Diversity and culture
Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
Describe a framework for how low-income Latinas manage and encourage the recovery of their husbands with prostate cancer. List several concerns of low-income Latinas caring for husbands recovering from prostatectomy for prostate cancer.

Keywords: Cancer, Latinas

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been trained and supervised by Dr. Sally Maliski, an expert in grounded theory methods and in Latino populations with prostate cancer
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.