Cultural adaptation and open pilot of meaning-centered psychotherapy for puerto rican patients with advanced cancer
Open accessAbstract
In Puerto Rico, cancer incidence increases significantly, and is accompanied with a greater risk of experiencing high levels of depressive symptoms, emotional distress, and reduced quality of life when compared to other minority ethnic groups. Studies suggest that interventions to attend distress in Latino patient population would benefit from including components that seek to improve patients' spiritual well-being. The purpose of this study is to identify the level of comprehension and acceptance of Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) concepts. A mixed method design was conducted with in-depth interviews and open pilot data. A total of nine participants with advanced or metastatic cancer were sampled from an Oncology Clinic in the south of Puerto Rico. Six semi-structured interviews and six ethnographic notes with audiotape sessions were selected and transcribed. All material was analyzed, resulting in a sample of six semi-structured interview and six ethnographic note peer sessions. Patients showed low comprehension of the MCP concepts of meaning, the finite, and legacy. Patients showed low acceptance of death and its related concepts. They also reported high acceptance of integrating family members to their therapy. In order to tailor the intervention and improve comprehension, the content should include examples, shorter questions, and brief definitions. Additionally, there is a need to address death and its related concepts in end of life.
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The construction of meaning, vital goals, responsibility, sources of meaning, and comprehension and acceptance of these constructs depend on cultural, social, and religious factors.
“The construction of meaning, vital goals, responsibility, sources of meaning, and the comprehension and acceptance of these constructs depend on cultural, social, and religious factors, etc. (19).”
From Spanish Adaptation of Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Participants With Cancer: Study Protocol of a Randomized Control Trial (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
The Results > Findings and Discussion (page numbers unavailable) examine how Puerto Rican patients understood and accepted meaning-centered psychotherapy concepts and recommend culturally relevant content. They do not establish that the construction of meaning, life goals, or responsibility depends on cultural, social, and religious factors as a general rule. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Torres-Blasco, N., Castro-Figuero, E., Garduño-Ortega, O., & Costas-Muñiz, R.
- Affiliations
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
- ORCID
- Garduño-Ortega, Olga
- Venue
- Science Journal of Education
- Publisher
- Science Publishing Group
- Published
- 2020
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 100
- ISSN
- 2329-0897 (ISSN-L)
- 2329-0900
- PMC
- PMC8442672
- OpenAlex
- W3085545928
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 6
- FWCI
- 1.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Science Journal of Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Cancer Institute (R21CA180831, P30CA008748, U54CA163068, U54CA163071)
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (R21MD013674, G12MD007579, R25MD007607)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Keywords
- meaning-centered therapy, cultural adaptation, Puerto Rican patients, advanced cancer, metastatic cancer, Hispanic patients, spiritual well-being, death acceptance, meaning-making, legacy, family involvement in treatment, end-of-life care, patient understanding, emotional distress, Puerto Rico
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