Internet Peer Support for Breast Cancer

描述（由申请人提供）：同伴支持是一致的，明确承认为有益于乳腺癌妇女在他们的情绪调整和功能状态。面对这些发现，令人不安的是，面对面的同伴支持干预措施仍然没有得到充分利用，因为最近的调查表明，只有12%的乳腺癌患者参加了这样的团体。旅行距离、时间投入、疲劳等因素会限制乳腺癌妇女获得面对面心理社会支持的程度。互联网已成为一个令人兴奋的和潜在的宝贵工具，为癌症患者提供心理和教育干预措施，包括用作同伴支持的渠道。人们可以每周7天、每天24小时在自己家中获得互联网同侪支持，这些功能似乎可以提高那些不参加面对面支持的人对同侪支持的可访问性和利用率。此R21申请响应国家癌症研究所的PA 02-001，邀请研究资助申请在癌症控制中进行探索性行为研究，特别是围绕与改善生活质量相关的问题。本研究的主要目的是获得初步数据的影响，互联网同伴支持的福祉，调整和功能的妇女最近诊断为乳腺癌。拟议的随机研究将提供有关互联网同伴支持的潜在有效性的数据，如果有希望的话，将作为未来R 01提案的基础。因特网同伴支助将作为通过ONCOLINK提供的因特网教育的辅助手段提供，ONCOLINK是一个专门从事癌症教育和推广的因特网网站，由宾夕法尼亚大学癌症中心管理和控制。对照组将由那些只接受互联网教育的人组成。这项试验性研究的第二个目的是评估各种方法的可行性，以了解互联网同行支持过程。拟议的过程研究将审查一些关键问题，包括：1）在线同伴支持干预的参与程度; 2）分析在线同伴支持通信;以及3）评估参与者对在线支持过程的看法。这项工作的成果将作为规划未来行为和癌症控制干预研究项目资助申请（R 01）的基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Peer support is consistently and unambiguously recognized as benefiting women with breast cancer in their emotional adjustment and functional status. In the face of these findings it is disconcerting that face-to-face peer support interventions remain underutilized as recent surveys indicate that only 12 percent of breast cancer patients have participated in such groups. Travel distance, time investment, fatigue, among other factors can limit the extent to which women with breast cancer obtain face-to-face psychosocial support. The Internet has emerged as an exciting and potentially valuable tool in delivering psychosocial and educational interventions to persons with cancer, including being used as a conduit for peer support. Internet peer support is accessible from ones own home 24 hours a day, seven days a week, features that plausibly increase the accessibility and utilization of peer support for those who do not attend face-to-face support. This R21 application responds to PA 02-001 from the National Cancer Institute that invites research grant applications to conduct exploratory behavioral research in cancer control, specifically around issues related to improving quality of life. The primary aim of this study is to obtain preliminary data on impact of Internet peer support on the well-being, adjustment, and functioning of women recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The proposed randomized study will provide data on the potential effectiveness of Internet peer support that if promising, will serve as the basis for a future R01 proposal. Internet peer support will be offered as an adjunct to Internet education provided through ONCOLINK, an Internet site devoted to cancer education and outreach that is administratively operated and controlled by the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center. The control group will consist of those who receive Internet education alone. A secondary aim of this pilot study is to assess the feasibility of various methods for understanding the Internet peer support process. The proposed process study will examine a number of key issues, including: 1) Level of participation in the online peer support intervention; 2) analysis of the online peer support communications; and 3) assessment of participant perceptions of the online support process. The products from this effort will serve as a basis for planning future behavioral and cancer control intervention research project grant applications (R01) based on the information.