SPOUSAL INFLUENCE AND OLDER MEN'S SELF CARE

这项为期一年的初步研究有四个主要目标：(1)描述前列腺癌(PCA)对新诊断的男性和他们的妻子意味着什么，它如何影响他们的生活，以及他们如何在日常生活中处理它；(2)检查配偶对男性对这种慢性疾病的自我照顾的影响；(3)记录欧洲/白人和非裔美国人/黑人夫妇在经历和处理前列腺癌方面的差异(如果有的话)；以及(4)制定一个更大的建议，进一步探讨在这项工作中发现的突出问题。这项前瞻性人类学研究使用成熟的定性研究技术来探索前列腺癌的经验。来自泌尿科或肿瘤科诊所的30名男性(15名白人，15名黑人)和他们的妻子将分别接受采访。这些男性年龄在50岁或以上，可能患有任何阶段或级别的癌症，并可能接受任何类型的治疗，无论是单独治疗还是联合治疗。面对面的半结构化访谈将记录男性和他们的配偶在确诊后两个月内的经历；妻子对男性自我护理活动的影响；诊断和治疗对家庭、社会和工作关系和活动的影响。分析战略将包括标准的基于文本的定性技术。这一及时的建议是创新的。首先，因为它将妻子的观点作为研究的中心领域。其次，它广泛地审查了该男子的社会文化和家庭背景，以了解他对疾病的解释和他的自我护理活动。第三，也是最重要的一点，该提案集中考察了黑人/非裔美国人的经历。由于黑人患前列腺癌的几率比白人高，后果也比白人严重，因此记录黑人的独特观点和经历是当务之急。这些发现将在几个领域有用，包括在公共卫生/健康促进领域以及在临床医学领域。

This one year pilot study has four major aims: (1) To describe what prostate cancer (PCa) means to newly diagnosed men and their wives, how it has affected their lives and how they deal with it on a day-to-day basis; (2), to examine the influence of spouses on men's self-care for this chronic disorder; (3) To document differences, if any, between European/White and African-American/ Black couples in how they experience and deal with Pca; and, (4) to develop a larger proposal that further explores salient issues discovered in the course of this work. This prospective anthropological study uses well-established qualitative research techniques to explore the experience of prostate cancer. Thirty men (15 White, 15 Black) from urology or oncology clinics, and their wives, will each be interviewed. The men, aged 50 or more, may have any stage or grade of cancer, and may receive any type of treatment either singly or in combination. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews will document what the men and their spouses experience in the two months post-diagnosis; the wife's influence on the man's self care activities; the impact of diagnosis and treatment on family, social and work relationships and activities. Analytic strategies will comprise standard text-based qualitative techniques. This timely proposal is innovative. First because it includes the wife's perspective as a central domain of research. Second, it examines broadly the man's socio-cultural and family context to in order to understand his interpretation of the disease and his self-care activities. Third, and most importantly, the proposal centrally examines the experience of Black/African- Americans. Since Black men experience prostate cancer at higher rates and with more severe consequences than do White men, it is imperative that the unique viewpoints and experiences of Blacks be documented. Findings will be useful in several domains, including in the public health/health promotion arena as well as within clinical medicine.