Context: Because cervical cancer mortality in the United States is twice as high among black women as white women and higher in rural areas, providing human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to rural black adolescents is a high priority. Purpose: To identify racial differences in knowledge and attitudes about HPV, cervical cancer, and the HPV vaccine…

Donald W. Compton, the first director of evaluation services at the National Home Office (Atlanta) of the American Cancer Society, tells the story of building the unit in conditions of high demand and a limited budget. Along the way, evaluation was brought to regional divisions and to local offices in part as a response to United Way and to his…

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting women worldwide. While it is true that hope influences how these victims view and live their lives, little is known as to how hope is lived and experienced by a breast cancer patient whose professional background and practice is nursing. This narrative-interpretive study purports to create a…

Previous research suggests that caregivers and terminally ill patients face substantial difficulties discussing illness and death. Existing research, however, has focused primarily on the experience of patients. The current study compared responses as well as the relative strength of association between mortality communication, fear of death, and…

Purpose: To conduct an assessment of rural environmental pollution sources and associated population mortality rates. Methods: The design is a secondary analysis of county-level data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Agriculture, National Land Cover Dataset, Energy Information Administration, Centers for Disease Control…

The population of survivors following diagnosis and treatment for medulloblastoma is thankfully on the rise. An increased focus on the quality of that survivorship has expanded the concept of cure to include efforts aimed at improving long-term cognitive outcome. It is well established in the literature that decline in overall intellect and…

Dance, as a way to create meaning, was included in a week-long cancer education course for community health workers in Alaska. The eight course participants were Alaska Native women from throughout Alaska, including those of Yup'ik, Inupiaq, Aleut, Tlingit, and Athabascan heritage. As reported by participants on end-of-course written evaluations…

People with cancer often report that they experience personal growth as a result of the disease, but such reports have unclear validity. Some suggest such growth results from Rogers's (1951) hypothesized organismic valuing process (OVP), an innate tendency for people to gravitate toward well-being; others suggest this growth may be a positive…

Background: To demonstrate the feasibility of outpatient endometrial sampling to evaluate abnormal uterine bleeding in a population of women with intellectual disability. Method: Retrospective chart review was completed of all endometrial biopsies performed on women attending a dedicated gynaecology clinic for women with intellectual disability…

Background: Many breast cancer outreach programs assume that dissemination of information through social networks and provision of social support will promote screening. The authors prospectively examined the relationship between social network characteristics and adherence to screening guidelines. Method: Employed women age 40 years and older…

Obtaining more federal funds is the expressed research goal in "Closing the Gaps by 2015." It states: By 2015, increase the level of federal science and engineering research and development obligations to Texas institutions to 6.5 percent of obligations to higher education institutions across the nation. In 2006, Texas institutions of…

Objective: To assess students' human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Participants/ Methods: Students (N = 1,282) at a large, public university in the Northeast United States completed a questionnaire during February 2008 assessing HPV knowledge, prevalence, transmission, cervical cancer risk and stigma; sexual behavior,…

Background: Low rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening persist due to individual, provider, and system level barriers. Purpose: To develop and obtain initial feedback about a CRC screening educational video from community members and medical professionals. Methods: Focus groups of patients were conducted prior to the development of the CRC…

Family life is altered irrevocably when a young parent is diagnosed with or dies from cancer. This article tracks the genesis and transformation of a comprehensive psychoeducational support and bereavement program for children, adolescents, and parents affected by cancer. From the inception of the program, families with parents in active treatment…

The death of the author's mother was not a surprise. Despite eighteen years of relative psychological and physical health while she lived with metastatic breast cancer, the last year of her life was a violent struggle against the disease that aggressively invaded her body. Her mother fought her death until the last moment. Within five days of…