[Support as an impetus for helping women cope with breast cancer]

Breast cancer is the most common malignant illness in Israel and the western world; it accounts for 30% of all women with cancer. The woman suffering from breast cancer confronts and experiences surgery, loss, and long-term treatment that necessitate strenuous coping on her part, both physically and mentally. This research study examined the correlation between the degree of support that Jewish, Arab, and immigrant women from the former Soviet Union, who have cancer and live in the Galilee area of Israel, receive from their immediate surroundings especially from their husbands, families, friends, and the healthcare treatment staff, and their ability to cope with the illness. This study was a quantitative, correlative-prospective study and was conducted using an anonymous self-reporting questionnaire comprised of 50 questions ranked according to the Likert scale from 1 (never) to 5 (always). The questionnaire was distributed to 45 women with breast cancer and all of the participants completed and returned the questionnaires for analysis.

The findings showed a weak, positive, and significant correlation between the support that a woman received and her emotional coping with the illness; the average variable was 2.36, standard deviation was 0.94, the median was 2.33. There was a significant difference in the degree of support that Jewish women received; it was greater than the support that Arab women received (Jewish women SD=0.74, M=3.87; Muslim women SD=0.38, M = 3.32). Women from the former Soviet Union received more support from their husbands than Israeli-born women. The findings show that husbands are a major source of support for women who cope with breast cancer and the treatment staff is a more significant source of support than friends.

The authors believe that this study can contribute in shaping new treatment strategies for women with breast cancer treated at the Western Galilee hospital in Nahariya. Since there is a paucity of comparative research based on ethnicity and national origin, in Israel and throughout the world, related to how women with cancer cope, it is possible that this study can assist the Israeli healthcare system on a national scale to reconsider its treatment policy for breast cancer patients.