Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Cancer news stories (N = 5,327) in the top 44 circulating U.S. newspapers were analyzed by a team of four coders and the results were compared to prior studies. The comparison revealed that (a) three cancers have been consistently underreported (male reproductive, lymphatic/Hodgkin�s, and skin), (b) two cancers have been consistently overreported (breast and blood/Leukemia), (c) two cancers have been reported proportionate to their incidence (lung and pancreas), and (d) several cancers have been under- or overreported in erratic patterns. One positive finding was that news coverage of both male reproductive and colon cancer appeared to be increasing over time. Other cancer communication priorities were still relatively uncommon (e.g., news stories about cancer prevention, reporting of morbidity risk).

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: With an estimated 8.9 million people currently living with a diagnosis of cancer, increasing attention is being given to the needs of cancer survivors. Following successful treatment, cancer survivors may expect to return to their pre-cancer lives. However, because of the invasive, painful, and often disfiguring treatments for cancer and the uncertainty and fear of recurrence, it is unlikely that survivors return to their old lives. While most cancer patients do not meet the diagnostic criteria for mental disorder, they still face powerful and prolonged mental health consequences as they grapple with the meanings—both positive and negative—of illness. The subjective meanings attached to one’s cancer experience are important determinants of the psychological well being of cancer survivors. Although we are beginning to understand the range of meanings attached to cancer, we lack an understanding of the process through which survivors construct meaning(s); how cultural and interactional factors enter into the meaning making process; and how this process may differ across types of cancer. Through in-depth interviews with women who have completed treatment for cancer, this project will examine how cancer survivors make sense of cancer and incorporate the experience into the self. By recognizing that cancer survivors face difficulties in adjusting to their illness even after successful treatment, this project broadens the scope of most studies of chronic illness and recognizes the need to study cancer (and cancer survivors) as a unique type of chronic illness.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Twenty years ago, faced with a breast cancer diagnosis, you might have shared the news with your closest family and friends, swearing them to secrecy. In a very short time, the pendulum has swung from shame to celebration. Women today race for the cure, sporting earrings adorned with pink rhinestones that dot the signature breast cancer loop. During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, corporations manufacturing products from automobiles to yogurt run full-page cause-marketing ads, joining in the “fight” against the disease. A growth industry of first-person accounts of the disease has been an important piece of this altered cultural landscape. This paper will focus on these memoirs, considering ways in which the new openness structures popular discourse about gender, self, and community.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study examined cancer patients’ and caregivers’ experiences talking to their doctors about cancer-related internet information. Participants completed an online survey, including questions focusing on their most recent interaction with a physician about cancer-related internet information. Patients were most likely to have made it explicit to their doctors that the information was from the internet, and doctors were most likely to take the information patients and caregivers brought in seriously.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper explores the ongoing debate regarding environmental links to breast cancer. In particular, it focuses on the discourse displayed by various governmental and non-governmental organizations on their websites. This research is contextualized within the "activist science" of breast cancer survivors, seeking policy changes regarding environmental toxins.