Looking toward the future of clinical trials: The application of communication variables to the recruitment of women into breast cancer clinical trials

Crossing borders in health communication research: toward an ecological understanding of context, complexity, and consequences in community-based health education in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands

In the past 15 years, researchers in health information dissemination have made significant strides in addressing context, complexity, and consequences (Sharf's "3 Cs") in theory, research, and praxis. The goal of integrating the 3 Cs in this field, however, remains a challenge. In this article, the authors present 6 principles of a postmodern ecological approach to health information dissemination that attempts such integration. The authors outline proposed principles and use a multiyear, interdisciplinary, and interinstitutional collaboration along the U.S.-Mexico border to illustrate this postmodern ecological approach. The goal of this article is to provide a framework for understanding other projects and communities in which efforts are undertaken to cross physical, social, cultural, economic, and political borders.

Mexican American women in a rural area and barriers to their ability to enact protective behaviors against breast cancer

Mexican American women in rural areas have less chance of surviving breast cancer than women in other ethnic populations (Boughton, 2000; Herman, 1996). This research sought to determine why such women do or do not enact behaviors to help them protect themselves from breast cancer. The extended parallel process model (Witte, 1994) provided a guiding theoretical basis for understanding perceptions, and 48 women, in discussion groups and surveys, were asked about self-exams, physician exams, and mammograms. Findings demonstrated that the women had high perceived self-efficacy and susceptibility regarding breast cancer but did not perceive it as severe (i.e., that it could cause death). These perceptions were positively and negatively related to behaviors that protect against breast cancer. Also, several barriers, such as lack of transportation, lack of access to health care, and lack of knowledge regarding breast self-exams, were found.