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1 – 10 of over 2000
Book part
Publication date: 4 October 2012

Marit Kristine Ådland and Marianne Lykke

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore whether and how social tagging can be useful in an information web site for cancer patients and their…

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore whether and how social tagging can be useful in an information web site for cancer patients and their relatives.

Methodology/approach – Three studies have been carried out in order to investigate the research questions. First, we reviewed and analyzed literature about cancer patients’ information needs and seeking behavior, and about social tagging and patient terminology. Second, we analyzed tags applied to blog postings at Blogomkraeft.dk, a blog site at the Danish information web site Cancer.dk. The tags were compared with the formal browsing structure of Cancer.dk. Results from the two studies were used to develop a prototype for social tagging at Cancer.dk. Thus third, we evaluated the prototype in a usability study.

Findings – We found that tags have the potential to describe and provide access to web site content from the users’ perspective and language use. Social tags may be a means to bridge between scientific viewpoints and terminology and everyday problems and vocabulary. Tags at Blogomkraeft.dk are mainly factual, often detailed, and do not cover as many functions as tags in more general bookmarking systems. An important finding is that some tags seemed to add to and supplement the content instead of factually describing the content of a blog posting. The usability test showed that our test persons liked the tagging feature.

Social implications – Tagging features give the public an opportunity to apply their own terms to documents, reflecting their own model of the current topic. Tags may furthermore function as colloquial lead-in terms from users’ search formulations at search engines such as Google to the domain-specific, tailored cancer web site.

Originality/value – Unlike most research on social tagging so far, we investigate tagging in a domain-specific setting, how tags can improve the interaction and communication between layman users and domain experts in an information web site within health care.

Details

Social Information Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-833-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 July 2012

Lauren D. Arnold and Vetta L. Sanders Thompson

Purpose – To provide an overview of racial/ethnic disparities in human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, HPV vaccination, and cervical cancer on domestic and international…

Abstract

Purpose – To provide an overview of racial/ethnic disparities in human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, HPV vaccination, and cervical cancer on domestic and international levels.

Design/methodology/approach – The literature, cervical cancer prevention guidelines, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention resources were culled to aggregate information on epidemiology, racial/ethnic disparities, and knowledge and attitudes related to HPV, HPV vaccination, and cervical cancer. Original data supplement information about HPV and HPV vaccination knowledge and attitudes.

Findings – Cervical cancer is among the leading causes of female death worldwide, with substantial racial/ethnic and geographic disparities. In the United States, African American and Hispanic women suffer disproportionate cervical cancer incidence and mortality compared to their Caucasian counterparts. Globally, the greatest burden of cervical cancer (and HPV infection) is shouldered by developing regions. Prevention efforts, such as HPV vaccination and adaption of screening programs to resource-poor areas, have the potential to reduce such disparities, but cultural context is critical to successful development and implementation of such interventions.

Research limitations/implications – As this is not a systematic review, but rather a viewpoint on issues related to disparities in cervical cancer, the literature review is not exhaustive.

Practical implications – This chapter provides a context for examining cervical cancer disparities domestically and globally and serves as a starting point for formulating future research.

Originality – This perspective on HPV and cervical cancer presents disparities both within the United States and worldwide. The chapter supplements the literature with new data that provide additional insight into knowledge and attitudes about these health issues.

Details

Health Disparities Among Under-served Populations: Implications for Research, Policy and Praxis
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-103-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 August 2022

Amanda DiGioia

This brief chapter explores my experiences with music and death throughout my cancer treatment. Though I constantly confronted my mortality throughout my cancer treatment, music…

Abstract

This brief chapter explores my experiences with music and death throughout my cancer treatment. Though I constantly confronted my mortality throughout my cancer treatment, music also helped to distract me from unpleasant, lengthy or boring treatments, as well as helping me to process my feelings about my own mortality. It thus served two distinct purposes, both focusing my mind on death and pain and distancing me from it.

Details

Embodying the Music and Death Nexus
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-767-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 18 September 2018

Karen Powroznik, Irena Stepanikova and Karen S. Cook

This research explores how gender influences the experience of cancer care and proposes a new explanation for gender differences in posttraumatic growth among individuals who…

Abstract

Purpose

This research explores how gender influences the experience of cancer care and proposes a new explanation for gender differences in posttraumatic growth among individuals who received blood or marrow transplantation as treatment for lymphoma.

Methodology/approach

We use mixed methods, combining quantitative examination of surveys with 180 survivors with qualitative findings from semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 50 survivors. Participants were 2–25 years after transplantation. Quantitative data were analyzed using statistical modeling; qualitative data were analyzed using thematic coding.

Findings

A quantitative examination indicates that compared to men, women report greater posttraumatic growth and more positive impacts of cancer despite having lower physical health. These gender differences are robust even after controlling for physical and emotional well-being, life satisfaction, and social support. Qualitative findings from in-depth interviews show that gender norms and expectations about masculinity and femininity shape how individuals experience illness and perform the role of patient and survivor. Expectations about being a good patient and survivor are more aligned with expectations about femininity and tend to conflict with expectations about masculinity. Gender norms discourage men from reporting personal growth from cancer and encourage women to overemphasize the positive aspects of having had cancer.

Research limitations/implications

This study was conducted two or more years after treatment had ended; therefore, potential for recall bias existed. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that viewing cancer as transformative is part of a gender performance that limits opportunities for individuals to experience and express a diverse range of reactions which, at times, increases the emotional burden on individuals.

Originality/value

By combining survey data with in-depth interviews, the study offers new insights into the causes of gender differences in the reporting of patient outcomes after illness.

Details

Gender, Women’s Health Care Concerns and Other Social Factors in Health and Health Care
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-175-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 27 August 2014

Damian Tago, Henrik Andersson and Nicolas Treich

This study contributes to the understanding of the health effects of pesticides exposure and of how pesticides have been and should be regulated.

Abstract

Purpose

This study contributes to the understanding of the health effects of pesticides exposure and of how pesticides have been and should be regulated.

Design/methodology/approach

This study presents literature reviews for the period 2000–2013 on (i) the health effects of pesticides and on (ii) preference valuation of health risks related to pesticides, as well as a discussion of the role of benefit-cost analysis applied to pesticide regulatory measures.

Findings

This study indicates that the health literature has focused on individuals with direct exposure to pesticides, i.e. farmers, while the literature on preference valuation has focused on those with indirect exposure, i.e. consumers. The discussion highlights the need to clarify the rationale for regulating pesticides, the role of risk perceptions in benefit-cost analysis, and the importance of inter-disciplinary research in this area.

Originality/value

This study relates findings of different disciplines (health, economics, public policy) regarding pesticides, and identifies gaps for future research.

Details

Preference Measurement in Health
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-029-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 12 December 2007

Lisa Cox Hall

This chapter focuses on the differences that younger, middle-aged, and older women with breast cancer experience, particularly in health knowledge and treatment. These…

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the differences that younger, middle-aged, and older women with breast cancer experience, particularly in health knowledge and treatment. These differential experiences, in part, stem from our youth oriented culture. This ideology extends into medicine and can affect day-to-day medical practice. Differential experiences are, therefore, likely to result in inequality and disparity in health and in healthcare. It is argued that older women are less empowered than their younger counterparts to display the same degree of agency. This analysis has important implications for health care professionals in the treatment of older women with breast cancer.

Details

Inequalities and Disparities in Health Care and Health: Concerns of Patients, Providers and Insurers
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1474-4

Book part
Publication date: 18 September 2018

Katherine S. Virgo, Chun Chieh Lin, Amy Davidoff, Gery P. Guy, Janet S. de Moor, Donatus U. Ekwueme, Erin E. Kent, Neetu Chawla and K. Robin Yabroff

To examine associations by gender between cancer history and major health insurance transitions (gains and losses), and relationships between insurance transitions and access to…

Abstract

Purpose

To examine associations by gender between cancer history and major health insurance transitions (gains and losses), and relationships between insurance transitions and access to care.

Methodology

Longitudinal 2008–2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data were pooled yielding 2,223 cancer survivors and 50,692 individuals with no cancer history ages 18–63 years upon survey entry, with gender-specific sub-analyses. Access-to-care implications of insurance loss or gain were compared by cancer history and gender.

Findings

Initially uninsured cancer survivors were significantly more likely to gain insurance coverage than individuals with no cancer history (RR: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.08–1.44). Females in particular were significantly more likely to gain insurance (unmarried RR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.06–1.28; married RR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.02–1.16). Significantly higher rates of difficulty accessing needed medical care and prescription medications were reported by those remaining uninsured, those who lost insurance, and women in general. Remaining uninsured, losing insurance, and male gender were associated with lack of a usual source of care.

Research implications

Additional outreach to disadvantaged populations is needed to improve access to affordable insurance and medical care. Future longitudinal studies should assess whether major Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions enacted after the 2008–2013 study period (or those of ACA’s replacement) are addressing these important issues.

Originality

Loss of health insurance coverage can reduce health care access resulting in poor health outcomes. Cancer survivors may be particularly at risk of insurance coverage gaps due to the long-term chronic disease trajectory. This study is novel in exploring associations between cancer history by gender and health insurance transitions, both gains and losses, in a national non-elderly adult sample.

Details

Gender, Women’s Health Care Concerns and Other Social Factors in Health and Health Care
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-175-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 July 2015

Amaya Gilson, Susan R. Hemer, Anna Chur-Hansen and Shona Crabb

Risk notification is part of a focus on preventive medicine that is dominant in contemporary Western biomedicine. Genomics has forecasted great advances in alleviating disease and…

Abstract

Purpose

Risk notification is part of a focus on preventive medicine that is dominant in contemporary Western biomedicine. Genomics has forecasted great advances in alleviating disease and prolonging human life, moving from a reactive to a preventative practice. However, in doing so, genomics redraws boundaries, potentially classifying all people as possible carriers of malfunctioning genes. This chapter presents a critical review of the practice of ‘risk notification’ as undertaken by familial cancer genetic testing services, focusing on the right to be informed or not to be informed and implications of knowing.

Methodology/approach

With backgrounds in anthropology, psychology and public health, the authors draw upon literature around risk notification from a range of disciplines.

Findings

In the context of familial cancer, clients may be asked to provide contact information for biological family members to inform them of their potential genetic risk. Through these processes a number of tensions and issues may emerge that relate to fundamental bioethical principles. The ability and decision whether to know, or conversely, to not know, is ethically fraught. We consider the roles and rights of family members and clients, as well as the broader goal of population health.

Originality/value

While much attention has been devoted to clients’ right to know in the context of medical research and treatment, relatively little work has examined the right not to know and adverse consequences of knowing. This review addresses concerns which have rarely been critically examined and debated in the context of risk notification of biological family members.

Details

Genetics, Health and Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-581-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 23 October 2003

Erica S Breslau

The sequence of stress, distress and somatization has occupied much of the late twentieth-century psychological research. The anatomy of stress can be viewed from interactional…

Abstract

The sequence of stress, distress and somatization has occupied much of the late twentieth-century psychological research. The anatomy of stress can be viewed from interactional and hybrid theories that suggest that the individual relates with the surroundings by buffering the harmful effects of stressors. These acts or reactions are called coping strategies and are designed as protection from the stressors and adaptation to them. Failure to successfully adapt to stressors results in psychological distress. In some individuals, elevated levels of distress and failed coping are expressed in physical symptoms, rather than through feelings, words, or actions. Such “somatization” defends against the awareness of the psychological distress, as demonstrated in the psychosocial literature. The progression of behavior resulting from somatic distress moves from a private domain into the public arena, involving an elaborate medicalization process, is however less clear in sociological discourse. The invocation of a medical diagnosis to communicate physical discomfort by way of repeated use of health care services poses a major medical, social and economic problem. The goal of this paper is to clarify this connection by investigating the relevant literature in the area of women with breast cancer. This manuscript focuses on the relationship of psychological stress, the stress response of distress, and the preoccupation with one’s body, and proposes a new theoretical construct.

Details

Gender Perspectives on Health and Medicine
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-239-9

Book part
Publication date: 12 August 2014

Tony Huzzard, Andreas Hellström, Svante Lifvergren and Nils Conradi

This chapter presents a framework for an action research based intervention to develop and transform sustainable healthcare in a regional context. The framework is illustrated by…

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter presents a framework for an action research based intervention to develop and transform sustainable healthcare in a regional context. The framework is illustrated by the case of the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) West in western Sweden.

Design/methodology/approach

The framework draws upon and develops Pettigrew’s context–content–process model of strategic change and applies it to the unfolding narrative of the change effort. The empirical focus is the activities of a learning platform consisting of the RCC leadership, senior cancer physicians designated as process owners and an action research team. Data were collected from documents, observations of the learning platform, notes from meetings and interviews. Outcome data were obtained via the self-reporting of the physicians.

Findings

The learning platform established the capability for wide ranging development and quality improvement on the 23 cancer pathways as well as some support activities around principles of patient-centred care. A clear result is greater inter-organisational collaboration between care professionals as well as the introduction of new medicines, clinical methods, joint learning activities and new forms of measurement and monitoring of care practices. All of the improved measures are sustained.

Originality/value

Whilst there is no shortage of rhetoric on patient-centred care, the reality is that in complex healthcare systems solutions such as process-oriented approaches often fail. This case presents a model and an approach that eschews clear visions for change and instead places an emphasis on dialogue, participation, professional autonomy and collaborative communities as means for achieving the patient-centred ideal. The case also shows the value of seeing sustainable health systems as being grounded on practitioner–scholar collaboration that combines practical knowing with scientific knowledge.

Details

Reconfiguring the Ecosystem for Sustainable Healthcare
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-035-3

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 2000