The objective of the TOGETHER (Together Overcome and Get Empowered Through Health Education and Relationships) program was to examine the effectiveness of one of the first linguistically and culturally tailored intervention programs to increase quality of life among Korean American breast cancer survivors.
This study employed a randomized trial design, consisting of a standard and enhanced intervention group. Participants attended seven weekly sessions and one follow-up session that lasted for about 2 hours each. All sessions were conducted by two Korean female bilingual licensed clinical psychologists. The specific aims of this study were to: (1) Implement and evaluate the effects of tailored intervention on perceived stress, coping and quality of life among Korean American breast cancer survivors; and (2) Conduct a process evaluation to assess the feasibility and fidelity of the intervention, which will provide data that can inform the development of future interventions.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
86
Participants received linguistically and culturally tailored information on diet and nutrition, physical activity, managing treatment side effects, follow-up care plans, complementary and alternative medicine, reducing environmental exposure to estrogen, navigating cancer-related financial issues, family history, body image, sexuality, and advances in breast cancer research.
Participants learned and practiced skills related to mindfulness, relaxation, stress reduction, rational thinking, improving coping, enhancing social support, anger management, and assertiveness training.
Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B)
Time frame: changes in quality of life during baseline, 7 weeks, and 14 weeks
Cancer Behavior Inventory- Brief Version (CBI-B)
Time frame: changes in self-efficacy for coping with cancer during baseline, 7 weeks, and 14 weeks
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
Time frame: changes in stress during baseline, 7 weeks, and 14 weeks
Additional items to assess improvement in skills/knowledge covered by the intervention program
Participants were asked 12 multiple choice items on coping with stress, utilizing social support, anger management, assertiveness, and communicating with healthcare providers as well as 1 open-ended item on how participants cope with stress. Multiple choice items were on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from never to very often.
Time frame: changes in responses during baseline, 7 weeks, and 14 weeks
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