➤ Coping strategies can play a vital role in how African American women adapt to their diagnosis of breast cancer. ➤ Nurses should seek to understand the significance of social support and spirituality on coping behaviors among African American women with breast cancer. ➤ Nurses must develop culturally sensitive interventions that will assist African American women and their family members in coping with breast cancer. ➤ Future research studies are needed to determine what are effective and ineffective coping strategies for African American women with breast cancer.

This exploratory research paper investigated the coping strategies of families of hospitalized psychiatric patients and identified their positive and negative coping strategies. In this paper, the coping strategies of 45 family members were examined using a descriptive, correlational, mixed method research approach. Guided by the Neuman Systems Model and using the Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales and semistructured interviews, this paper found that these family members used more emotion-focused coping strategies than problem-focused coping strategies. The common coping strategies used by family members were communicating with immediate family, acceptance of their situation, passive appraisal, avoidance, and spirituality. The family members also utilized resources and support systems, such as their immediate families, mental health care professionals, and their churches.

Nurses must understand the importance of developing culturally sensitive and culturally relevant interventions to assist African American couples with effectively coping with a breast cancer diagnosis. When providing care to African American couples, nurses should incorporate the six categories of walking, praying, seeking, trusting, adjusting, and being together to help couples cope with the various phases of the breast cancer experience.

Problem-To examine if the experience of peer relational aggression victimization can be linked to feelings of depression in the African American adolescent female population.Method-The sample included 241 African American college age adolescent females assessed for peer relational aggression victimization (PRAV) and depression. Statistical analysis was done to determine the relationship between the variables.Findings-PRAV, in this study population does exist as a detrimental phenomenon whereby PRAV significantly correlates with depression, r (214) = .29, p < .01. Conclusion-Nursescan assist the adolescent client experiencing relational aggression by becoming knowledgeable on the presentation and manifestations of this experience.

Purpose-The purpose of this study was to describe diabetes self-management practices and service utilization among Gullah families in South Carolina.Methods-Data were obtained from 1,276 persons with type 2 diabetes through interviews using the Family Health History Questionnaire. This was a primary analysis of a project conducted in conjunction with a parent study (Project SuGar) which focused on the molecular aspects of diabetes. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis.Results-Diabetes self-management behaviors were not consistent with recommendations from the American Diabetes Association. Over half (55.6%) reported exercising, but only 27.7% reported self-glucose monitoring. Service utilization was poor, less than half, (41.1%) reported referral to a diabetic class/diet, 32.8% reported making yearly visits to the ophthalmologist; 22.3% reported visiting the dentist, and only 12.8% reported visiting the podiatrist.Conclusions-Although some self-management behaviors were identified, Gullah family members remain at risk for preventable diabetes complications. Education must reflect behaviors and beliefs valued by Gullah individuals. Culturally appropriate educational programs may increase use of health care services aimed at decreasing preventable complications of type 2diabetes in the Gullah population.

This exploratory study of patients in Pennsylvania (PA) and Virginia (VA) hospitals in 1998-1999 measures the segregation of care for Black patients receiving inpatient care for specific medical and surgical conditions. It also examined inpatient mortality risk for Black patients and the impact of treatment in heavily segregated hospitals on mortality for Blacks and non-Blacks. Segregation of hospital care was found across both states but was more pronounced in PA. Blacks did not experience higher mortality rates than non-Blacks either before or after controls for clinical risk factors in either state and for certain admission types had lower mortality. Both Black and non-Black surgical, heart failure, and lung disease patients treated in VA hospitals with more Black patients had poorer outcomes. Future research should examine how access, patient choice, hospital organization, processes of care, and factors related to nursing care might influence hospital outcomes for patients from different racial backgrounds.

The health of the parents affected the lives of adult siblings in both negative and positive ways. Although the majority of the adult siblings expressed a willingness to care for their parent(s) in an attempt to reciprocate the care, they had received from them, challenges emerged from dealing with family stressors.

This chapter focuses on promoting cultural competence in research and the care of vulnerable populations by establishing inter-university nursing partnership centers for health disparities research between historically Black universities and minority-serving institutions and research-intensive majority institutions. The Hampton-Penn Center to Reduce Health Disparities (HPC), an inter-university collaborative center funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) P20 funding mechanism, is discussed as the exemplar. The mission of the Hampton-Penn Center is to promote culturally competent research on health promotion and disease prevention and the examination of how culture, race and ethnicity and their interactions with the health care system and the larger society influence health outcomes and the occurrence of health disparities. The history, goals, and conceptual model underlying this collaborative effort between the University of Pennsylvania and Hampton University Schools of Nursing are described as are the accomplishments and lessons learned to date. Based upon the Hampton-Penn experience, recommendations for similar collaborations to reduce health disparities among vulnerable populations are made in three major areas: (a) increasing the study of the multi-system level factors that contribute to health disparities among vulnerable populations, (b) promoting the development of culturally competent research on health disparities, and (c) promoting the recruitment and training of health researchers who are themselves members of vulnerable populations.