Helping Mothers and Daughters Talk about Environmental Breast Cancer Risk and Risk-Reducing Lifestyle Behaviors.

Carla L Fisher,Kevin B Wright,Xiaomei Cai,Amelia Burke-Garcia,Dasha Afanaseva,Michaela D Mullis,Camella J Rising

doi:10.3390/ijerph17134757

Abstract

Background: Mothers and daughters struggle to talk about breast cancer risk. Even less attention is paid to environmental determinants of cancer. Third-party online approaches can be helpful navigating these conversations. The aim of this study was to obtain feedback from mothers exposed to a social media intervention (“mommy bloggers”) and identify their preferences for message-design approaches that could help them talk to their daughter(s) about environmental breast cancer risk. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 50 mothers. A thematic analysis was conducted using the constant comparative method. Results: Mothers identified four approaches to message design that could help facilitate mother–daughter communication about environmental breast cancer risk. These included two action-oriented approaches that centered on getting the conversation started and keeping the conversation going and two approaches based on lifespan factors to promote daughters’ engagement by using age-appropriate language and visuals and focusing on developmentally specific lifestyle behaviors. Mothers also provided recommended strategies within each approach. Conclusions: Mothers identified various approaches interventionists can utilize to overcome barriers to talking to daughters about environmental breast cancer risk. To promote mother–daughter communication, the messages should be action-oriented to facilitate interaction, but also developed with lifespan and developmental considerations in mind to engage daughters.

Highlights

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women in the world and the most commonly diagnosed cancer for women living in the United States [1]
In line with federal encouragement to unite scientists and community advocates to promote healthy behavior, we developed a partnership with mommy bloggers to disseminate a social media intervention on environmental breast cancer risk
To obtain feedback from bloggers and mothers exposed to the intervention, once the approaches that could help them talk to their daughter(s) about environmental breast cancer risk and intervention period ended, we began Phase 2 using an interpretive design and constituent-involving promote the adoption of risk-reducing behavior

Summary

Introduction

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women in the world and the most commonly diagnosed cancer for women living in the United States [1]. Environmental linkages with cancer risk can be misunderstood by the public and are not a widely discussed topic among women and their families [3] Helping families navigate these risk conversations is a critical consideration when developing interventions that aim for women to adopt cancer risk-reducing behavior. Results: Mothers identified four approaches to message design that could help facilitate mother–daughter communication about environmental breast cancer risk. These included two action-oriented approaches that centered on getting the conversation started and keeping the conversation going and two approaches based on lifespan factors to promote daughters’ engagement by using age-appropriate language and visuals and focusing on developmentally specific lifestyle behaviors. To promote mother–daughter communication, the messages should be action-oriented to facilitate interaction, and developed with lifespan and developmental considerations in mind to engage daughters

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion