Educational Counseling in Improving Communication and Quality of Life in Spouses and Breast Cancer Patients

Psychoeducation for Spouses/Partners of Women With Breast Cancer

This randomized clinical trial studies educational counseling in improving communication and quality of life in spouses and breast cancer patients. An outpatient education and behavior skills training program may help spouses and patients with breast cancer communicate better and improve quality of life. It is not yet known whether educational counseling is more effective than an educational booklet in improving communication and quality of life.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To test whether the intervention has a beneficial effect on spouses' outcome variables.

II. To test whether the intervention has a beneficial effect on ill partners (patients') outcome variables.

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms.

ARM I: Participants receive the "What's Happening to the Woman I Love?" booklet, which focuses on ways to understand and deal with marital communication and relationship issues arising from breast cancer diagnosis.

ARM II: Participants undergo the Helping Her Heal educational counseling program comprising 5 1-hour sessions 2 weeks apart.

SESSION I: Participants learn stress management skills and discover ways stress affects themselves and their partner.

SESSION II: Participants practice attentive listening and reduce the tendency to try to distract patients from talking about sad or difficult aspects of the cancer experience.

SESSION III: Patients learn to help their spouse talk when she is quiet or withdrawn, to add to their understanding of what she is thinking and feeling, and to add to their ways of supporting her during especially difficult times with the cancer.

SESSION IV: Participants learn strategies for physically reconnecting with spouses.

SESSION V: Participants review skills from prior sessions, identify strategies he or she will continue to use to manage their personal stress, and identify ways to maintain connection and support.

After completion of study, patients are followed up at 3 and 6 months.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Spouses (in both heterosexual couples and same-sex couples) of women diagnosed within the past 6 months with stage 0, I, II or III breast cancer (in situ/local/regional disease) will be eligible to participate, as will the diagnosed wife/partner
• Spouses and patients must be married or cohabiting for at least 6 months
• Spouses and patients must have English as one of their languages of choice (they can be multilingual)
• Spouses and patients must live within 25 miles of the University of Washington (UW) study center
• Spouses/partners must be willing to give a sample of blood and/or sputum at time of first and second data collections

Exclusion Criteria:

• Woman diagnosed with stage IV or recurrent breast cancer or who is > 6 months post-diagnosis
• Woman and/or spouse not able to read and write in English
• Spouses could not participate if the ill partner refused participation