Internet Peer Support for Breast Cancer

描述(由申请者提供)：同伴支持一直被明确地认为有利于乳腺癌妇女的情绪调整和功能状态。面对这些发现，令人不安的是，面对面的同行支持干预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小组。旅行距离、时间投入、疲劳等因素会限制乳腺癌女性获得面对面的心理社会支持的程度。在向癌症患者提供心理社会和教育干预方面，互联网已成为一种令人兴奋的潜在有价值的工具，包括被用作同伴支持的渠道。互联网同伴支持可以一周七天、每天24小时在自己家里获得，这一特点似乎可以增加那些没有参加面对面支持的人获得同伴支持的机会和利用率。此R21应用程序响应国家癌症研究所的PA 02-001，邀请研究拨款申请在癌症控制方面进行探索性行为研究，特别是围绕与提高生活质量相关的问题。这项研究的主要目的是获得有关互联网同伴支持对最近诊断为乳腺癌的女性的幸福感、适应能力和功能的影响的初步数据。这项拟议的随机研究将提供有关互联网同伴支持潜在有效性的数据，如果前景看好，将作为未来R01提案的基础。互联网同行支持将作为通过ONCOLINK提供的互联网教育的补充，ONCOLINK是一个致力于癌症教育和推广的互联网网站，由宾夕法尼亚大学癌症中心管理和控制。控制组将由那些只接受互联网教育的人组成。这项初步研究的第二个目的是评估了解互联网同伴支持过程的各种方法的可行性。拟议的进程研究将审查若干关键问题，包括：1)在线同伴支持干预的参与程度；2)在线同伴支持沟通的分析；3)评估参与者对在线支持进程的看法。这项工作的产品将作为基于信息规划未来行为和癌症控制干预研究项目拨款申请(R01)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.