Breast cancer patients often turn to support groups to help cope with their condition. However, studies indicate psychological interventions that address patients’ emotional changes and help them learn additional coping strategies are more effective than traditional support groups. UAB researchers have created a Web site, health.psy.uab.edu/survive, where women undergoing breast cancer treatments and follow-up care can share personal experiences with each other through an online support group and receive information on coping with cancer. The Web site is part of Project Survive, a larger 3-year clinical trial funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Psycho-oncology has become an important field for research and clinical services, says the project’s principal investigator Jason Owen, a UAB doctoral student who created the Web site. The Project Survive site also provides information on the disease, specific physical and emotional symptoms, and side effects associated with cancer.
“It’s much more than a chat room,” said UAB psychologist Diane Tucker, PhD, who is working with Owen on the project. “It’s a structured support group with a purposeful intervention to help people develop coping skills.”
Researchers will evaluate the participants’ quality of life and monitor physical and emotional side effects associated with cancer. The study could lead to the development of supportive services that give more extensive psychosocial care to cancer patients.
Researchers are recruiting 120 women for the study. Call Diane Tucker, PhD, UAB professor of psychology, (205) 934-8885, or Jason Owen, (205) 934-1617.
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