Abstract
PurposeTo explore how Chinese Canadian patients with breast cancer make dietary choices and to understand their nutritional information needs in order to inform oncology healthcare providers about provision of optimal supportive care for this population.MethodsUsing interpretive description methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with first- and second-generation Chinese Canadian women aged 41–73 years living in Vancouver, Canada, who were diagnosed with breast cancer within the last 5 years. A follow-up focus group was held to validate emergent themes.ResultsNineteen women were interviewed; 6 participated in the focus group. Their accounts of dietary experiences following diagnosis focused on three areas: dietary change (including desired and implemented changes that participants believed would benefit their health), facilitators and barriers to dietary change, and information and resource needs. Dietary changes reported included avoiding or consuming greater amounts of certain foods, and taking traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and natural health products. Barriers to desired dietary change included the interplay between food preferences and family and social life, work-life balance, and cost and availability of specialty foods. Support from family members, however, facilitated participants’ consumption of more whole and natural foods after their cancer diagnosis. Participants obtained food and nutrition information from a variety of sources but had difficulty determining the reliability and accuracy of information. They requested timely, credible, culturally-relevant, and easily accessible dietary information.ConclusionsOncology healthcare providers would benefit from increased understanding of the dietary practices, including TCM, of Chinese women living with breast cancer. To facilitate communication and improve quality of care, healthcare professionals should provide credible and culturally relevant diet-related information in a variety of forms.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women in Canada [1]
According to the concept of dietary therapy in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), hot foods tend to warm the body while cold foods dispel body heat [7]
We used purposive sampling to recruit first-generation and second-generation Chinese Canadian women living in Vancouver who were Cantonese, Mandarin, or English speaking and diagnosed with breast cancer within the last 5 years
Summary
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women in Canada [1]. Between 41 and 57% of Canadian women diagnosed with breast cancer reportGuelph, Guelph, ON, Canada 3 College of Nursing, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada dietary changes after cancer diagnosis [2, 3], with decreases in animal food products (77%) and increases in fruit and vegetable intake (72%) being the most prominent. Immigrant Chinese women in Western countries who are diagnosed with breast cancer may face particular challenges when making food choices as they navigate between Western medical messaging about diet and cancer and Chinese cultural understandings of the complex influences of food on health and illness [5]. Optimal health is a result of the equilibrium between hot and cold energy, whereas illness results from a shift in balance incurred by extreme diets, lifestyle factors, climate, and emotional stress. Such imbalance may lead to loss of vitality and malfunctioning of internal organs, which contributes to systemic illness over time [5]. Recognizing and designating the “poisonous-tonic” nature of food have helped guide dietary choices of Chinese people for generations
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