Abstract
The use of spirituality for guidance and coping affects the quality of life in many cancer survivors and their supporters. Previous research has focused on coping strategies among cancer and terminally ill survivors, primarily among White and African American women. However, the length and extent to which these strategies have been researched in a cultural and communal context, such as Pacific Islanders, is not documented. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore spiritual coping among a cross-sectional sample of 20 Samoan women diagnosed with breast cancer and 40 of their supporters (family and/or friends) in Southern California. In-depth interviews were conducted retrospectively with survivors and their supporters by trained bilingual/bicultural interviewers. The interviews were recorded, transcribed (and translated where applicable), and analyzed using the grounded theory approach to identify major themes for each group. Results illustrated that spirituality provided considerable emotional and logistical assistance to both survivors and their supporters, with particularly churches playing a potentially important role in the development of social support programs for both groups. This study supports the use of faith-based communities as forums to increase health education and understanding the further use of spiritual coping for cancer survivors, family, and friends.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the leading site for cancer among Samoan women (Cockburn, Liu, & Deapen, 2009), and they and other Pacific Islanders are over twice as likely to be diagnosed at late stages in comparison to nonHispanic whites (Marshall, 2008)
Spiritual coping among supporters Like cancer survivors, supporters in this study found ways to understand their experience through spirituality by (1) exploring the meaning of the cancer occurrence and identifying ways to cope and grow from the experience
Spirituality has been shown to be an important emotional and psychological factor affecting the quality of life in survivors and caregivers, and the extent to which this has been researched in a highly cultural and spiritual society, such as Pacific Islanders, is lacking
Summary
Breast cancer is the leading site for cancer among Samoan women (Cockburn, Liu, & Deapen, 2009), and they and other Pacific Islanders are over twice as likely to be diagnosed at late stages in comparison to nonHispanic whites (Marshall, 2008). No published research exists on the unique cultural challenges and coping strategies of Samoan and other Pacific Islander breast cancer survivors. Exploring coping among both survivors and members of their social network may better surface both the cancer needs and cultural influences that affect survivors‟ quality of life (Stetz & Brown, 2004). The purpose of this study was to explore the role of spirituality in coping with breast cancer among Samoan cancer survivors and their supporters, defined in this study as family members and friends
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