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Adapting Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy in Advanced Cancer for the Chinese Immigrant Population

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Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Chinese immigrant community faces multiple barriers to quality cancer care and cancer survivorship. Meaning-centered psychotherapy (MCP) is an empirically-based treatment shown to significantly reduce psychological distress while increasing spiritual well-being and a sense of meaning and purpose in life in advanced cancer patients. However, it has not yet been adapted for racial and ethnic minority populations for whom the concept of “meaning” may likely differ from that of westernized White populations. In this study, we conducted a community needs assessment to inform the cultural adaptation of MCP for Chinese patients with advanced cancer, in accordance with Bernal et al. ecological validity model and the cultural adaptation process model of Domenech-Rodriquez and Weiling. We conducted interviews until saturation with 11 key Chinese-serving community leaders and health professionals with a range of areas of expertise (i.e. oncology, psychology, palliative care, cancer support services), to examine community needs, priorities, and preferences within the context of the MCP intervention. Sessions were audio recorded and transcribed. The research team analyzed the transcripts using Atlas.ti. Six frequently occurring themes were identified. Interviewees described the role of the family, traditional Chinese values, cancer stigma, and social norms (e.g. saving face) in adapting MCP. Researchers and clinicians should consider the role of the family in treatment, as well as specific social and cultural values and beliefs in adapting and delivering MCP for Chinese patients with advanced cancer.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health Research Project Grant Program (3R01CA128134-05S1) and the National Institutes of Health Small Grant Program (R03CA178124-01A1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA

    Jennifer Leng, Florence Lui, Angela Chen, Xiaoxiao Huang & Francesca Gany

  2. Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA

    Jennifer Leng & Francesca Gany

  3. Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medical College, 485 Lexington Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY, 10017, USA

    Jennifer Leng & Francesca Gany

  4. Department of Clinical Psychology, The City College of New York, New York, USA

    Florence Lui

  5. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA

    William Breitbart

  6. Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, USA

    Francesca Gany

Authors
  1. Jennifer Leng
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  2. Florence Lui
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  3. Angela Chen
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  4. Xiaoxiao Huang
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  5. William Breitbart
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  6. Francesca Gany
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer Leng.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

The study was granted exempt status by MSKCC’s Institutional Review Board. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Leng, J., Lui, F., Chen, A. et al. Adapting Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy in Advanced Cancer for the Chinese Immigrant Population. J Immigrant Minority Health 20, 680–686 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0591-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0591-7

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