• Gayle Thomas, Rhonda K Lewis, Kyrah Brown, J'Vonnah Maryman, Jamie LoCurto, Debbie Ojeda-Leitner, Julia Siwierka, Amber Dean, Alissa Bey, and Michelle Redmond.
• Witness Project of Kansas, Wichita, KS, USA.
• J Natl Med Assoc. 2020 Oct 1; 112 (5): 507-515.

BackgroundAfrican American women continue to die at a higher rate than White women from breast cancer. Kansas has a high death rate among African American women. Their voices needed to be heard.ObjectivesThis exploratory study will ask the following questions: 1) Were African American and White women having different breast cancer treatment experiences with their health care providers? And 2) How satisfied were they with their treatment?MethodA total of 15 breast cancer survivors were recruited to participate in this qualitative research study. We conducted focus groups in two communities in the Midwest. Forty percent of the sample was White women, 53% of the sample was African American women and 7% of the sample was Hispanic/Latina.ResultsOverall six themes emerged. Generally both African American women and White women were satisfied with their health care; both felt they were treated equally by health care professionals. However, they felt that health care professionals should pay more attention to their significant others and to continue to educate young women about early detection.ConclusionsAs a result of the focus groups a gap in services emerged in educating the patient's partners about what is needed for their significant others and what role partners play in the recovery process.Published by Elsevier Inc.

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