Project Description
Enhancing Access and Acceptability of Palliative Care Services for Underserved Persons with Advanced Cancer in the Deep South
Palliative needs differ by patient demographics and
disease characteristics, and care should be adapted according to the unique
needs of the patient and family. There is a knowledge gap on how to accomplish
this for underserved populations. Lay navigators (LNs) have been successful in
improving health care in general, and may be useful in bringing palliative care
services to Deep South older African Americans (AAs) with advanced cancer. This
study will focus on understanding the use of the University of Alabama at
Birmingham (UAB) Patient Care Connect (PCC) LN program, by using a sequential,
explanatory mixed method approach to design a patient- and caregiver-centered
LN palliative care strategy to overcome disparities. The overall study
objective is to examine data to inform, adapt, and pilot test a promising LN
intervention that could be used increase palliative care access for Deep South
underserved persons with advanced cancers.
Bio
Yasemin Turkman, PhD, APRN, is an Assistant Professor at the
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing and a UAB Health
Disparities Research Training Program Scholar.
She holds PhD and MSN degrees from Yale University and an MPH from
Harvard University. Dr. Turkman is currently researching access and
acceptability of palliative care services for underserved persons in the Deep
South. This region of the United States is under represented in palliative care
research, and palliative care uptake lags other parts of the country. With
NPCRC funding, she is examining the potential for lay navigators to increase
palliative care use in older African Americans with advanced cancer in a
primarily rural setting. Dr. Turkman’s prior research has been funded by the American
Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure Disparities Program, and the
American Association of Colleges of Nursing/Johnson & Johnson. She is a
board certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Dr. Turkman is a
2018 NPCRC Junior Faculty Career Development Awardee.
Email: yturkman@uab.edu