Abstract B18: Impact of Nueva Vida's model on self-efficacy in Latinas with breast cancer

Purpose: Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the Latino population in the United States and for Latina9s the most common cancer diagnosis is breast cancer. Latina9s diagnosed with breast cancer have a higher mortality rate than their white non-Hispanic counterparts (American Cancer Society, 2009). Based on this data and the lived experiences of Latina9s with breast cancer in the Washington, DC area Nueva Vida (NV) came to be. NV was founded in 1996 by Latina breast cancer survivors and health professionals to address the lack of culturally sensitive cancer support services for Latinas in the Washington, DC, area. The goal of this community based organization-academic partnership project that will be presented is to evaluate the impact of Nueva Vida9s model on levels of self-efficacy, psychological distress, and quality of life. The NV model provides a variety of services that include patient navigation, support groups, individual counseling, peer support, and resources and information. This study is looking at the impact of this model for one year. Methods: This study is a time-series design with time 1 data collection on the day of initial contact with NV, time 2 within 3-10 days of initial contact, time 3 at 4 months, and time 4 at 12 months. The instruments used in this study include: Cancer Behavior Inventory -Version 2.0 (CBI) measuring self-efficacy (Merluzzi et al, 2001), the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) measuring psychological distress (Zabora et al., 2001), and the Satisfaction with Life Domains Scale-Breast Cancer (SLDS-BC) measuring quality of life (Spagnola et al., 2003). The sample will include between 60 and 90 Latina women diagnosed with breast cancer who contacted NV and agreed to participate in the study. The interventions offered over the course of the twelve months include, individual counseling, various support group participation, patient navigation, and peer support. Results: Data collection for this study took place between March 2008 to December 2009. The findings will be presented in regards to the self-efficacy, psychological distress, and quality of life over time. The results will guide the development of a problem-solving intervention which will be implemented in the third year of the grant. Conclusions: Participants will have an increased awareness of the impact of breast cancer on Latinas and the impact of a targeted program for Latinas has on the study participants. Further, participants will learn the ups and downs of a collaboration between a community based organization and a university in developing and undertaking a research project. Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2010;19(10 Suppl):B18.