04 Apr 2009 05:00 AM
Focusing Patients On The "Can" In Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment, And Recovery
Nurse researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) are helping to make cancer a word, not a sentence, for over 1.4 million Americans of every age, race, ethnicity, and income diagnosed with some form of cancer each year. Their innovative studies are examining cancer-related disparities in diagnosis and treatment across ethnic populations, identifying ways to encourage at-risk women to get screened for breast and cervical cancer, and identifying how exercise and methods that integrate mind and body can help improve the quality of life for individuals of all ages with all types of cancer.
Other researchers are assessing the effectiveness of combining standard cancer interventions and complementary or traditional therapies. Still others are looking at end-of-life issues for cancer patients and their families. And one PhD candidate is carrying on the legacy and the work of her former advisor, a senior nurse researcher who lost her own battle with cancer. The results of these and numerous other community-based studies by JHUSON faculty and graduate students are yielding new tools and knowledge to reduce the physical and emotional effects of cancer. Through their work, the nurse researchers at the JHUSON give hope and help to cancer patients and to those who love them.
Opening Minds and Doors to Cancer Screening Community health researcher and JHUSON Associate Professor Haera Han, PhD, RN, is changing minds and health habits about preventive care through her research in the Korean American community. Based on early studies on which she was a research team member, she learned that Korean Americans generally did not avail themselves of preventive care. When in charge of health screening programs, she saw the problem first-hand. Since then, Han already has conducted community-based research programs designed to change both the data and the health-screening picture for Korean Americans. One such program has helped promote prostate and colorectal cancer screening among Korean American men. Most recently, she's been pushing back against the growing rates of breast cancer among Korean American women, a population already known to have the second highest incidence of cervical cancer among all U.S. women. "Unfortunately," Han points out, "with lives that can include 16-hour work days without weekend or holiday breaks, a lack of health insurance and limited English skills, mammograms and Pap smears simply aren't a high priority." Further, a significant number of first generation Korean American women adhere to traditional belief that one does not seek health care until the situation is acute. With a recent $2…
Other researchers are assessing the effectiveness of combining standard cancer interventions and complementary or traditional therapies. Still others are looking at end-of-life issues for cancer patients and their families. And one PhD candidate is carrying on the legacy and the work of her former advisor, a senior nurse researcher who lost her own battle with cancer. The results of these and numerous other community-based studies by JHUSON faculty and graduate students are yielding new tools and knowledge to reduce the physical and emotional effects of cancer. Through their work, the nurse researchers at the JHUSON give hope and help to cancer patients and to those who love them.
Opening Minds and Doors to Cancer Screening Community health researcher and JHUSON Associate Professor Haera Han, PhD, RN, is changing minds and health habits about preventive care through her research in the Korean American community. Based on early studies on which she was a research team member, she learned that Korean Americans generally did not avail themselves of preventive care. When in charge of health screening programs, she saw the problem first-hand. Since then, Han already has conducted community-based research programs designed to change both the data and the health-screening picture for Korean Americans. One such program has helped promote prostate and colorectal cancer screening among Korean American men. Most recently, she's been pushing back against the growing rates of breast cancer among Korean American women, a population already known to have the second highest incidence of cervical cancer among all U.S. women. "Unfortunately," Han points out, "with lives that can include 16-hour work days without weekend or holiday breaks, a lack of health insurance and limited English skills, mammograms and Pap smears simply aren't a high priority." Further, a significant number of first generation Korean American women adhere to traditional belief that one does not seek health care until the situation is acute. With a recent $2…
