Cancer, Culture and Communication

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxii

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2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Rhonda J. Moore, David J. Spiegel

      Pages 1-11

3. Cancer across Cultures

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13

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   2. Culture and Oncology

      • Rhonda J. Moore, Phyllis Butow

      Pages 15-45

   3. Quality of Life in Culturally Diverse Cancer Patients

      • Carolyn Cook Gotay

      Pages 55-75

   4. Cancer and Aging

      • Lodovico Balducci, Darlene Johnson, Claudia Beghe

      Pages 77-108

   5. Children with Cancer

      • Edward J. Estlin, Javier R. Kane

      Pages 109-126

   6. Cancer Risk Assessment

      • Patricia T. Kelly

      Pages 127-134

4. Cancer Interventions across Cultures

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 135-135

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   2. Cancer Prevention

      • John H. Weisburger

      Pages 137-156

   3. Cross-Cultural Aspects of Cancer Care

      • Samuel Mun Yin Ho, Pierre Saltel, Jean-Luc Machavoine, Nathalie Rapoport-Hubschman, David Spiegel

      Pages 157-183

5. Symptoms and Their Management across Cultures

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 185-185

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   2. The Cultural Experience of Cancer Pain

      • Judith A. Paice, Joseph F. O’Donnell

      Pages 187-219

   3. Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Patients with Cancer

      • Edzard Ernst, Clare Stevinson

      Pages 221-237

6. Dying and Death in Different Cultures

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 239-239

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   2. Bereavement across Cultures

      • Richard T. Penson

      Pages 241-279

   3. The Unmet Need

      • Christopher A. Gibson, Hayley Pessin, Colleen S. McLain, Ami D. Shah, William Breitbart

      Pages 281-298

7. Back Matter

   Pages 299-317

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The ability to communicate effectively with cancer patients and their family members has been linked to patient satisfaction, reduced psychological morbidity, enhanced health and reduced clinician "burn-out". Yet, despite what we know about the benefits of effective communication, cancer clinicians have only recently begun to receive routine training in the psychosocial and emotional aspects of cancer patient care.
This volume creates a multi-disciplinary dialogue about clinician-patient communication. It offers a description of the relevance of culture as a contextual effect that impacts the clinician-patient relationship. Some important topics addressed include:

-Oncology care;

-Quality of life issues;

-Supportive survivorship;

-Cultural differences in health care;

-Multidisciplinary medical approaches.

This book is for physicians, nurses, hospice and palliative care professionals and public health professionals who would like to understand the ways we can improve clinician-patient communication in culturally diverse medical settings. It is also suitable for graduate level courses in medical education, oncology, and health care.

• Public Health
• aging
• assessment
• cancer prevention
• morbidity
• prevention
• quality of life

"This important scholarly volume provides a powerful description of the relevance of culture as a critical context effect that dramatically influences provider-consumer communication and health outcomes in the Western context of cancer care. Culture is illustrated in the book's chapters as a pervasive variable, encompassing linguistic, national, ethnic, age, gender, socio-economic, and even professional beliefs, framing health care providers' and consumers' expectations and responses to cancer care. To be effective, communication in cancer care must be responsive to the cultural beliefs, values, and attitudes that participants bring to the health care setting. Culturally sensitive communication in cancer care can take advantage of distinct context effects for therapeutic benefit. This book provides the reader with a vivid sense of the powerful cultural issues that face provider-consumer communication in oncology, and also suggests strategies for adapting cancer communication to meet unique cultural demands."
(Gary L. Kreps, Ph.D., Chief, Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, National Cancer Institute)
"In order to have meaningful communication between clinicians and patients, it is essential there is mutual understanding of each other's cultures. There is diversity across ethnic groups and equally important within ethnic groups. This book reinforces the importance of culture as a context for cancer care and introduces the reader to strategies for understanding how we all represent our own culture and how to communicate with each other to enhance our life experiences. The book needs to become required reading for clinicians from all disciplines."
(Ruth McCorkle, Ph.D., Director, Center for Excellence in Chronic Illness Care, Yale University School of Nursing)

• National Institutes of Health, Bethesda

  Rhonda J. Moore

• Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford

  David Spiegel

Policies and ethics