Supporting North Carolina Families Facing Cancer: A Community-Engaged Exploration of Assets, Barriers, and Needs
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- November 18, 2019
- Creator
-
Doernberg, Alison
- Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Maternal and Child Health
- Abstract
- Objective: Families dealing with the cancer diagnosis of a parent face complex psychosocial challenges. Using an engaged, sustainable approach, this project aimed to explore the assets and needs of families, identify barriers to resource utilization, and enable Cancer Services, a nonprofit organization in Winston Salem, NC, to more effectively support families facing cancer. Methods: The project involved two components: 1) an abbreviated needs assessment including focus groups, an online client survey, key informant interviews, and other outreach to identify the assets and needs of families facing cancer and the strengths and gaps in Cancer Services' current offerings for families, and 2) guided by needs assessment findings and evidence-based practices in cancer support for families, development of a comprehensive, updated family resource kit, including paper and online materials, that reflects the needs of Cancer Services clients. Results: Identified areas of challenge for families facing cancer included family communication, finances and logistics of daily living, and emotional and behavioral health. Structural and psychosocial barriers to resource access were discussed. Six dimensions of successful family navigation of cancer were identified: connection, positivity, adaptability, control, acceptance, and resilience. Conclusions: Beyond the local context of Cancer Services, these findings have broad implications for maternal and child health research and practice. Future study of the characteristics of families who thrive in the face of cancer will facilitate development of interventions that enable family resilience.
- Date of publication
- December 2012
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Note
- Paper type: Individual alternative
- Advisor
- Farel, Anita M.
- Degree
- Master of Public Health
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Graduation year
- 2012
- Language
- Deposit record
- b6f6bdeb-f0b9-4907-a2ad-769b5d2e1080
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