This research project will utilize a qualitative community-based participatory approach to explore the lived experience of breast cancer survivors who live in rural communities in Central Texas. The principal investigator (PI), in partnership with community partners, including the community-based coalition, Bastrop County Cares, will conduct the qualitative study within rural counties in Central Texas with high rates of breast cancer mortality. The methodology will include individual interviews with breast cancer survivors, focus groups with social workers and community health workers who care for rural cancer survivors and their caregivers, and Systems Dynamics Group Model Building with community stakeholders.
The specific aims for this pilot study are as follows: (1) Define barriers to care for rural cancer survivors in Central Texas; (2) Elucidate the specific social, cultural and economic needs and preferences of cancer survivors living in rural areas in Central Texas; and (3) Design an intervention which draws on a collaborative partnership between community agencies, medical service provider(s), a social worker(s), and a community health worker(s) to address these identified barriers, needs and preferences.