Pain Management Skills for Minority Breast Cancer Patients
Abstract
This project developed patient educational materials for lower-income African American and Hispanic women with breast cancer and cancer-related pain. The development of the materials was guided by the results of studies designed to establish the educational needs of women of each ethnic heritage. A manuscript describing the results of our baseline studies has been published in Cancer, and three book chapters have been written using project data. The results of the baseline studies indicated that over half of the minority women were experiencing severe pain and that their physicians underestimated pain severity. The second study found that the women's health care providers demonstrated conservative pain management practices. They reported inadequate pain assessment and patient reluctance to report pain as top barriers to optimal pain treatment. The patient educational materials are designed to teach women how to communicate with their providers about their pain. The materials also discuss effective pain management and dispel myths about opioid medications. The educational materials are being tested in a randomized clinical trial at sites that serve minority patients. Patient recruitment and accrual have been slow but are gradually increasing. An additional one year unfunded extension has been requested to finish the clinical trial.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA391415
Entities
People
- Miroslav Backonja
Organizations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison