After conducting a pioneer research study among Hispanics who were former cancer patients, Barbara Jones summarized her two discoveries Monday afternoon.
Jones spent three years interviewing Hispanic adolescents who were former cancer patients at the University of New Mexico and Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin. As she conducted interviews with 10 self-selected individuals, a trend emerged in the testimonies of those who had survived the illness: Most adolescents did not consider themselves "survivors" at all. The real survivors, they said, were children who had endured the disease.
"The people I felt are like the true survivors are like the younger ones. Because I couldn't imagine being that young and then having that on top of it, and not being able to understand it. … It hurts so much to see little kids," Jones said, reading a transcript of an interview from the study.
Another participant said in an interview, "In the beginning I was so bitter. I was so angry because I thought, 'Why me?' And I actually did not get an answer until I saw little kids that were sick, and it's like, 'How can I say that?'"
Jones also found that the former patients credited having a positive attitude, spiritual and familial support and relationships with hospital staff as important factors in the healing process.
The findings suggest benefits for new approaches toward cancer treatment, such as designing hospitals to accommodate more visitors for each patient so that large and extended families can attend treatments with patients, she said.
Jones also suggested that there is a potential benefit of a mentoring program between adolescent cancer patients and young children with cancer.
Deborah Volker, who served as Jones' co-investigator on the study, said relationships between adolescents and younger children with cancer can be beneficial for both age groups.
"If you have an older kid partner with a younger kid, it would be very rewarding to both," Volker said.
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