Pain Management Skills for Minority Breast Cancer.
Abstract
This project is developing patient educational materials, both video and written, for lower-income African American and Hispanic women. The materials will be tested in a randomized clinical trial at three sites that serve primarily minority patients. The project began with three studies designed to establish the specific educational needs of women of each ethnic heritage. In the first study, Hispanic and African American women with breast cancer and cancer-related pain and their physicians completed surveys. The results - indicated that the majority of the women were receiving analgesics of insufficient strength to manage their pain and that their physicians underestimated pain severity. The second study found that the health care providers of these women demonstrated conservative pain management practices. They reported inadequate pain assessment and patient reluctance to report pain as the top barriers to optimal pain treatment. The structured patient interviews in the third study revealed that minority women feel a -need for more information about cancer-related pain, analgesic medications, and side effect management. The Hispanic women reported more concerns about addiction and the efficacy of pain medicine than the African American women. The production of the educational materials will be completed by the end of 1997.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA341373
Entities
People
- Charles S. Cleeland
Organizations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison