developing a peer-to-peer mhealth application to connect hispanic cancer patients

Cancer and its treatment can significantly impact health-related quality of life (hrqol) (j pain symptom manag 9 (3):186–192, 1994; soc sci med 46:1569–1584, 1998), particularly for hispanics (healthcare financ rev 29 (4):23–40, 2008; psycho-oncology 21 (2):115–124, 2012). moreover, providers of cancer support for this population encounter unique challenges. grounded in social capital theory, this study identified spanish-speaking, hispanic breast cancer survivor support needs and preferences for a mhealth intervention. a user-centered, community-engaged research design was employed, consisting of focus groups made up of constituents from a local hispanic-serving, cancer support organization. focus group audio-recordings, translated into english, were coded using a grounded theory analytic approach. first, lead researchers read the complete transcripts to obtain a general sense of the discussion. next, coding rules were established (e.g., code at the most granular level; double and triple code if necessary, code exhaustively) and initial codebook was created through open-coding. three new coders were trained to establish requisite kappa statistic levels (≥.70) for inter-rater reliability. with training and discussion, kappa estimates reached .81–.88. focus group (n = 31) results revealed a mhealth intervention targeting hispanic cancer patients should not only offer information and support on disease/treatment effects but also respond to the individual’s hrqol, particularly emotional and social challenges. specifically, participants expressed a strong desire for spanish content and to connect with others who had gone through a similar experience. overall, participants indicated they would have access to and would use such an intervention. findings indicate positive support for a mhealth tool, which is culturally tailored to spanish speakers, is available in spanish, and connects cancer patients with survivors.