scholarly journals COVID-19 Communication to English- and Spanish-Speaking Cancer Patients: A Website Analysis of Seven Healthcare Systems in North Texas (Preprint)

JMIR Cancer ◽  
10.2196/30492 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin T Higashi ◽  
John W Sweetenham ◽  
Aimee D Israel ◽  
Jasmin A Tiro
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin T Higashi ◽  
John W Sweetenham ◽  
Aimee D Israel ◽  
Jasmin A Tiro

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic created an urgent need to rapidly disseminate health information, especially to those with cancer because they face higher morbidity and mortality rates. At the same time, the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Latinx populations underscores the need for information to reach Spanish-speakers. However, the equity of information about COVID-19 to Spanish-speaking cancer patients communicated through institutions’ online media is unknown. OBJECTIVE We conducted a multi-modal, mixed method document review study to evaluate the equity of online information about COVID-19 and cancer available to English and Spanish speaking populations from seven healthcare institutions in North Texas, where one in five adults is Spanish-speaking. Our focus is less on the “digital divide”, which conveys disparities in access to computers and the Internet based on the race/ethnicity, education, and income of at-risk populations; rather, our study asks: to what extent is online content useful and culturally appropriate in meeting Spanish-speakers’ information needs? METHODS We reviewed 50 websites (33 English, 17 Spanish) over a period of one week in mid-May 2020. We sampled seven institutions’ main oncology and COVID web pages, as well as both internal (institutional web pages) and external (non-institutional web pages) linked content. We conducted several analyses for each sampled page: (a) thematic content analysis, (b) literacy level analysis using Readability Studio software, (c) coding using the Patient Education and Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT), and (d) descriptive analysis of video and diversity content. RESULTS The themes most frequently addressed on English and Spanish websites differed somewhat. While “resources/FAQs” were frequently cited themes on both websites, English websites more frequently addressed “news/updates” and “cancer+COVID”, whereas Spanish websites addressed “protection” and “COVID data”. Spanish websites were on average lower literacy (11th grade) than English (13th grade), although still far above recommended guidelines of <9th grade. The overall average accessibility score using the PEMAT analysis was the same for English (n=33 pages) and Spanish pages (n=17 pages) at 82%. Among the DFW organizations, the average accessibility of the Spanish pages (n=7) was slightly lower than that of the English pages (n=19) at 77% vs. 81%, respectively, due mostly to the discrepancy in English-only videos and visual aids. Twelve of the 50 websites (24%) had embedded videos in them, however 100% of videos were in English, including one that was on a Spanish website. CONCLUSIONS We identified an uneven response among the seven healthcare institutions to providing equitable information to Spanish-speaking DFW residents concerned about COVID and cancer. Spanish-speakers lack equal access in both diversity of content about COVID-19 and access to other websites, leaving an already vulnerable cancer patient population at greater risk. We recommend several specific actions to enhance content and navigability for Spanish-speakers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 2201-2208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Massa ◽  
William Balzi ◽  
Mattia Altini ◽  
Raffaella Bertè ◽  
Monica Bosco ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Rosario Costas-Muñiz ◽  
Olga Garduño-Ortega ◽  
Carlos Javier González ◽  
Xiomara Rocha-Cadman ◽  
William Breitbart ◽  
...  

Psychotherapeutic interventions focusing on addressing the needs and experiences of Latino cancer patients are scarce. This chapter discusses the formative process of the cultural and linguistic adaptation of meaning-centered psychotherapy (MCP) for Latinos with advanced cancer, as well as the considerations for and the process of adapting a psychotherapeutic intervention. A brief review of the efficacy of other psychotherapeutic interventions developed, adapted, and delivered to Latino cancer patients and also the concepts and applicability of individual meaning-centered psychotherapy are described. This chapter presents the initial phase of the adaptation of MCP, including conceptual frameworks, plan, process and methods used in adapting the original evidence-based treatment for Latino patients with advanced cancer. The mixed-method approach is described to provide future recommendations for clinicians, researchers, and program developers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Lawson ◽  
Gintas P. Krisciunas ◽  
Susan E. Langmore ◽  
Kerlly Castellano ◽  
William Sokoloff ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 53-63

SINGAPORE – A*STAR Scientists Reveal How Stem Cells Defend Against Viruses: New Insights to the Mechanisms bring Broad Implications to Stem Cell Therapy and Disease Diagnosis SINGAPORE – Singtel - Singapore Cancer Society Race against Cancer 2015 SINGAPORE – NCCS and IMCB to Collaborate on Research for New Treatments to Benefit Cancer Patients SINGAPORE – MerLion’s Finafloxacin Shown to be More Efficacious than Ciprofloxacin in the Treatment of Complicated Urinary Tract Infections TAIWAN AND UNITED STATES – Professor Yuk-ling Yung Receives Gerard P. Kuiper Prize SWEDEN – New Data Confirm Tresiba® U200 Delivers Significantly Lower Rates of Confirmed Hypoglycaemia versus Insulin Glargine U100 UNITED KINGDOM – Using Ultrasound to Clean Medical Instruments THE NETHERLANDS & UNITED STATES – Philips and Dutch Radboud University Medical Centre Introduce First Diabetes Prototype App with Integrated Online Community to Empower Patients and Enhance Continuity of Care UNITED STATES – New Clinical Architecture Content Cloud Establishes Reliable Single Source for Terminology Updates, Makes It Easier to Keep Healthcare Systems Up-to-Date UNITED STATES – Genomic Analysis for All Cancer Patients UNITED STATES – Birds That Eat at Feeders Are More Likely to Get Sick, Spread Disease, International Research Team Says


2021 ◽  
pp. 154041532110033
Author(s):  
Erica Garcia Frausto ◽  
Araby Sivananthan ◽  
Carla Golden ◽  
Molly Szuminski ◽  
Luz N Pérez Prado ◽  
...  

Introduction: We aimed to create a Spanish-language version of the Pediatric Nausea Assessment Tool (PeNAT) and examine its understandability among Spanish-speaking, Hispanic American children. Methods: Translation: Forward and backward translations of the PeNAT documents were performed and verified by a bilingual panel. Four monolingual, Spanish-speaking dyads (child/parent) and four bilingual dyads piloted the Spanish-language PeNAT documents. Four additional bilingual dyads read both versions and completed the PeNAT using their preferred version. These were reviewed for errors due to misunderstanding. Understandability: Children aged 4–18 years about to receive chemotherapy who spoke Spanish at home and were without impairments precluding PeNAT use were eligible. Participants used the Spanish-language PeNAT during a chemotherapy block. Parents gave feedback on the PeNAT documents. Recruitment continued until 10 consecutive participants offered no substantive suggestions for revision. Results: Translation: All child/parent dyads completed the PeNAT without errors attributable to misunderstanding. The Spanish-language PeNAT was preferred by three of four bilingual dyads. Understandability: Ten cancer patients (mean age: 10.6 years) used the Spanish-language PeNAT. All parents felt their child understood the PeNAT; none felt the documents were hard or very hard to use. Conclusion: The Spanish-language PeNAT was understood by Spanish-speaking Hispanic American children. Further psychometric testing is warranted.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e18070-e18070
Author(s):  
Veronica Jones ◽  
Karen L. Clark ◽  
Susanne Warner ◽  
Jenny Rodriguez ◽  
Joanne E. Mortimer ◽  
...  

e18070 Background: Psychological distress has been linked to poor outcomes among cancer patients. In 2007, the Institute of Medicine reported that distress is often unrecognized. While much is known about distress screening in English speaking populations, little is known about the provision of screening in Spanish. Methods: From 2009-2016, over 9000 solid tumor and lymphoma patients treated at an NCI CCC were prospectively administered a validated biopsychosocial distress questionnaire in their preferred language. The data was retrospectively stratified by language and Chi-square and ANOVA tests were performed to detect differences. Results: Spanish-speaking patients had the highest levels of reported distress in every category when compared to any other group. Of the 629 patients that reported Spanish as their preferred language, 400 (63.6%) took the questionnaire in Spanish (SS) with the rest taking it in English (SE). There was no difference in reported gender, marital status, education level or income between the two groups. The SS patients were younger (mean age 56 vs 60.5, P = 0.00) and reported significantly higher distress than the SE patients in every biopsychosocial domain except functional. The greatest difference was seen in “understanding treatment options” (40.1% SS vs 19% SE, p = 0.00) with a significant difference seen also in “fear of medical procedures” (38.2% SS vs 29.9% SE, p = 0.037), “finances” (66.5% SS vs 55.4% SE, p = 0.01), “finding community resources” (34.8% SS vs 26% SE, p = 0.03), “managing emotions” (40.3% SS vs 31.5% SE, p = 0.032), “needing help to coordinate care” (41% SS vs 23.4% SE, p = 0.00) and “transportation” (35.2% SS vs 21.9% SE, p = 0.001). The distress of the SE patients was more similar to that seen in the English-English patients, but was still significantly higher. Conclusions: These provocative data demonstrate distress levels are stratified by preferred language among cancer patients. Spanish speaking patients had the highest levels of reported distress but this difference was more pronounced when they were administered the questionnaire in Spanish. More studies are needed to determine culturally effective ways to identify distress in Spanish speaking populations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Fraguell ◽  
Joaquín T. Limonero ◽  
Francisco Gil

ABSTRACTObjective:Our aim was to identify the themes that arise when applying adapted meaning-centered group psychotherapy (MCGP) in Spanish-speaking advanced cancer patients.Method:A mixed qualitative–quantitative analysis was performed on the transcripts of interviews with 22 advanced cancer patients who had been assigned to three MCGP subgroups.Results:We found six new emergent themes in addition to the originally constructed themes of MCGP. Threat and uncertainty were the two most frequent emergent issues for our Spanish patients.Significance of results:The implementation of MCGP in Spanish patients validated the themes proposed by Breitbart and colleagues' foundational work on MCGP and also suggested new issues relevant to patient well-being (classified as “emergent themes”). Taking our findings into account, we propose that these new themes be considered in the Spanish adaptation of MCGP as well as in future adaptations of this form of psychotherapy in treating Latin American patients.


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