A grant awarded to the UNM Cancer Research and Treatment Center will give newly diagnosed Hispanic breast cancer patients access to a network of survivors of the disease who can provide peer support.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation, an organization that supports breast cancer research, gave the center a two-year, $250,000 grant in December to fund the peer support intervention services. Elba Saavedra, a research scientist and the principal investigator for the grant, said that Hispanic women are the second largest group, following non-Hispanic white women, to develop breast cancer.
She added that the survival rate among Hispanic women is lower due to a delay in diagnosis, causing the cancer to reach a more advanced state.
Saavedra said she hopes the project will make a difference by using culture and family to help the patients survive cancer.
The project, she said, will help those women deal with the stress and difficulty that accompanies diagnosis by finding those who have survived breast cancer to lend their support and advice.
She explained that the grant will pay stipends, in addition to state and city travel expenses, to 20 breast cancer survivors who have agreed to become comadres, or close friends considered relatives, and 10 family members or friends of post-treatment Hispanic breast cancer survivors. Saavedra said that their duties will include being tutored so they can provide resources and information about breast cancer and state-of-the-art treatment.
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Saavedra added that some of the comrades also will be trained to lead cancer support groups. Patient participation in support groups is encouraged, she said.
She listed some of the qualities that are looked for in comadres, including a year-long commitment to ensure evaluation, compassion and a desire to help someone else that has gone through the same thing they went through. Saavedra said that only women who are two years out of treatment can volunteer.
Other components of the project, she said, include making a video on breast cancer and its impact among women and families, and giving patients support baskets with free items and informational brochures as a way of saying, "we're here and this is who we are." Saavedra added that the videotape will be available to health care providers.
Saavedra said she has already received a positive response from the community.
"I've gotten feedback from Hispanic women with breast cancer who have heard about the funding of the project already and said, 'I wish I had somebody like a comadre,'" she said. "This is really encouraging for me, makes it more exciting for me and validates the existence of this project."
