Pain Management Skills for Minority Breast Cancer Patients
Abstract
This project developed patient educational materials, both video and written, for lower-income African American and Hispanic women. The development of the materials was guided by the results of three studies designed to establish the specific educational needs of women of each ethnic heritage. The results of the first study indicated that the majority of the minority women were receiving analgesics of insufficient strength to manage their pain and that their physicians underestimated pain severity. The African American women were more likely than the Hispanic women to take their analgesics only when necessary. 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 educational materials will be tested in a randomized clinical trial at sites that serve primarily minority patients. In order to train site personnel in the study procedures, a pilot study was initiated as a run-in phase for the clinical trial.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA366561
Entities
People
- Charles S. Cleeland
Organizations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison