HER2 Support Group Forums - Thank you to the 12 wonderful women who completed my doctoral survey

Just wanted to say thanks to those of you who participated in my doctoral survey. My dissertation is finished and I graduate 1/27/13!!! (And I'm still NED--six months and counting!) I've made a donation to this site as promised and I have included the abstract for my dissertation below if anyone is interested. Email me if you would like to read the whole thing (warning--it's long :) Again thank you so much!!

Younger Women with Breast Cancer: The Impact of Self-Directed Learning on Quality of Life during Chemotherapy

Christina A. Burke

A dissertation submitted to the faculty of Wilmington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Business Administration

Abstract

In addition to facing advanced and more aggressive forms of breast cancer than older patients, younger women with breast cancer face a wider range of age-specific challenges, have unique information needs, and often report lower quality of life. Self-directed learning can be a key component in meeting the informational needs of this population. The Health Belief Model provided a framework for this research. Self-directed learning activity levels may help predict health-related action by limiting perceived barriers, providing cues to action, and increasing self-efficacy. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine if a significant relationship existed between disease-related, self-directed learning activities and quality of life in younger women with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy. Specifically, this study sought to examine whether a correlation existed between quality of life, as measured by the FACT-B survey instrument, and self-directed learning activities, as measured by the Self-Directed Learning Activities Assessment survey, an instrument developed and piloted by the researcher specifically for this study. The results of the correlational analysis indicated that no significant relationship existed between quality of life and self-directed learning activities among those surveyed. The lack of relationship may be due in part to the homogenous nature of the sample. The study did find, however, that younger women with breast cancer made significant lifestyle or medical treatment decisions based on information obtained from self-directed learning and those participants who engaged in higher levels of self-directed learning took actions that were more significant. These findings provide support for the Health Belief Model and demonstrate the impact of self-directed learning on health-related action.