April 22-24, 2021
Promoting Equity in Health Communication Research
Promoting Equity in Health Communication Research
Abstract: Breast Cancer Survivors’ Experiences Communicating About Exercise and Nutrition with Healthcare Providers and Family Members
Background
Communication plays an important role in cancer survivorship. Informational and emotional support from physicians and a survivor’s social network can be an integral part of helping survivors manage their health and prognosis uncertainty after a cancer diagnosis. Although a weight gain of six to 12 pounds is reported on average during chemotherapy, discussing nutrition and physical activity may be perceived negatively by survivors. The study explores the relationship between social support in the context of physical activity and nutrition and outcomes for breast cancer survivors. This is important because over half of women diagnosed with breast cancer gain weight and many report uncertainty regarding the right amount and types of exercise for their condition as well as lower motivation to participate in physical activity and healthy eating.
Objective
The aim of this study is to explore messages that breast cancer survivors receive from their healthcare providers and family members when communicating about exercise and nutrition through the cancer treatment and survivorship process.
Methods
Between April and May 2020, two research coordinators conducted seven focus groups with 41 breast cancer survivors. Focus group attendees were remunerated with a $25 electronic gift card. Using a summative content analysis method, we first completed an inductive open-coding process to determine common themes among breast cancer survivors when communicating about nutrition and physical activity. A codebook was developed after undergoing several training iterations with two researchers who independently coded from one another. Interrater reliability was established with 20% of the dataset (Cohen’s Kappa = .94). After significant interrater reliability was accepted, the remainder of the data was coded independently.
Results
Preliminary analyses show that survivors do not view physical activity and exercise as interchangeable. When prompted to define both physical activity and exercise, survivors often provided distinct, separate definitions for the terms. This emphasizes the importance of patient-centered language in survivorship communication efforts. We will present descriptive data on the number of utterances in which breast cancer survivors discussed the difference between physical activity and exercise and demonstrate how patients socially constructed these two phrases.
The data analyses conducted also suggests breast cancer survivors’ experiences differ greatly when discussing exercise and nutrition with the various healthcare providers involved in their oncology treatment. This reveals an inconsistent protocol when communicating about these topics and illustrates a greater need for consistent discussions with breast cancer survivors regarding the importance of engaging in physical activity and nutritious decisions. How survivors interact and communicate with healthcare providers varies greatly between specialty and lends itself well to further research.
Family members and other social support groups also emerged as a significant source of information for these topics, again highlighting the importance of language and linguistic cues when speaking with breast cancer survivors. Family members and healthcare providers discuss physical activity and exercise with survivors differently. Further analyses found several interpersonal communication phenomena constructed by breast cancer survivors pertaining to social support including resilience, shared decision-making, and uncertainty management.
Communication plays an important role in cancer survivorship. Informational and emotional support from physicians and a survivor’s social network can be an integral part of helping survivors manage their health and prognosis uncertainty after a cancer diagnosis. Although a weight gain of six to 12 pounds is reported on average during chemotherapy, discussing nutrition and physical activity may be perceived negatively by survivors. The study explores the relationship between social support in the context of physical activity and nutrition and outcomes for breast cancer survivors. This is important because over half of women diagnosed with breast cancer gain weight and many report uncertainty regarding the right amount and types of exercise for their condition as well as lower motivation to participate in physical activity and healthy eating.
Objective
The aim of this study is to explore messages that breast cancer survivors receive from their healthcare providers and family members when communicating about exercise and nutrition through the cancer treatment and survivorship process.
Methods
Between April and May 2020, two research coordinators conducted seven focus groups with 41 breast cancer survivors. Focus group attendees were remunerated with a $25 electronic gift card. Using a summative content analysis method, we first completed an inductive open-coding process to determine common themes among breast cancer survivors when communicating about nutrition and physical activity. A codebook was developed after undergoing several training iterations with two researchers who independently coded from one another. Interrater reliability was established with 20% of the dataset (Cohen’s Kappa = .94). After significant interrater reliability was accepted, the remainder of the data was coded independently.
Results
Preliminary analyses show that survivors do not view physical activity and exercise as interchangeable. When prompted to define both physical activity and exercise, survivors often provided distinct, separate definitions for the terms. This emphasizes the importance of patient-centered language in survivorship communication efforts. We will present descriptive data on the number of utterances in which breast cancer survivors discussed the difference between physical activity and exercise and demonstrate how patients socially constructed these two phrases.
The data analyses conducted also suggests breast cancer survivors’ experiences differ greatly when discussing exercise and nutrition with the various healthcare providers involved in their oncology treatment. This reveals an inconsistent protocol when communicating about these topics and illustrates a greater need for consistent discussions with breast cancer survivors regarding the importance of engaging in physical activity and nutritious decisions. How survivors interact and communicate with healthcare providers varies greatly between specialty and lends itself well to further research.
Family members and other social support groups also emerged as a significant source of information for these topics, again highlighting the importance of language and linguistic cues when speaking with breast cancer survivors. Family members and healthcare providers discuss physical activity and exercise with survivors differently. Further analyses found several interpersonal communication phenomena constructed by breast cancer survivors pertaining to social support including resilience, shared decision-making, and uncertainty management.