Expressive writing can improve health outcomes for survivors of breast cancer Asian American -
Write fears, emotions and benefits of a diagnostic cancer can improve health outcomes for Asia survivors -American breast cancer, according to a study by a researcher at the University of Houston (UH).
"the key to the development of an intervention by expressive writing is writing instruction. Otherwise, writing is like a facts and recording events newspaper. the journal writing can be therapeutic, but often we do not get empirical data to determine if it is effective or not, "said Qian Lu, assistant professor and director of the Culture and health research Centre at UH.
"In my study, I find benefits for the physical and psychological health in the long term when the research participants wrote about their deepest fears and the benefits of a breast cancer diagnosis' she said.
Lu and his colleagues published a study entitled "a pilot study of Expressive writing Intervention Among Chinese breast cancer survivors," in health Psychology . The goal of his research is to reduce the psychological burden in patients minority especially among breast cancer survivors.
"Cancer patients, as war veterans in Iraq may experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Many times when cancer patients are diagnosed, they face a lot of emotional trauma. There has a sense of loss, depression, anxiety going in the treatment and how they are going to face in the future, "said Lu." they have a lot of emotional events that will in their lives. "
in his research, Lu, found little attention to the psychological needs of Asian Americans surviving breast cancer. previous studies have largely focused on non-Hispanic whites samples, and found a need for research in this little studied population. Some of the challenges noted with this population felt stigmatized shame associated with cancer, cultural beliefs to bear the burden alone to avoid disturbing the harmony, elimination emotions, and a lack of training for mental health professionals with cultural and linguistic competence.
"We thought a very interesting way to help this problem. It is actually quite simple. It is to express emotions using writing," she said. "What is interesting is that it has been proved as a scientific paradigm."
According to Lu, previous research found that writing about emotionally difficult events for only 20 to 30 minutes at a time on three or four days increased immune function. The release offered writing has had a direct impact on the body's ability to withstand stress and fight infection and disease.
"I based my study Chinese breast cancer survivors on the paradigm of research Pennebaker, and we have conducted a series of studies to change the paradigm for Asian Americans" said Lu.
rather than go to the hospital, Lu worked with a community partner to recruit participants. Lu's research team asked the participants to conduct an assessment of standardized health and then they were asked to write 20 minutes each week for three weeks. Three sealed envelopes were sent simultaneously to the participants with each envelope containing different instructions for writing the corresponding week. Questionnaires assessing health outcomes were sent to the participants at three and six months after completion of paperwork. semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted after the 6-month follow-up.
"The results of the study suggest the participants perceived the writing task to be easy, revealed their emotions, and described their experiences in writing that they had not said before other. The participants indicated that they wrote what they thought and felt and perceived the appropriate and useful intervention, "said Lu.
Lu added that the health outcomes associated with the intervention of expressive writing includes a decrease in fatigue, intrusive thoughts, and reduce post-traumatic stress after three months. It also noted a decrease in fatigue, post-traumatic stress, and increasing benefit of life and positive affect after six months.
Lu notes this study contributes to the growing literature of expressive writing, illustrating the feasibility and potential benefits between Chinese survivors of breast cancer using a community participatory research approach and a mixed method design . The results of the operation show that the writing has been associated with long-term health benefits of monitoring and how to adapt and use the intervention of expressive writing for minorities.
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