Fuchsia Howard
Relevant Thesis-Based Degree Programs
Great Supervisor Week Mentions
I feel so fortunate to have Sally and Fuchsia as my doctoral supervisors. As an international student, they are the kind of supervisors I need to be successful. Early on in my first year when I was struggling to balance between my son and study, they both showed their understanding and support. We are able to meet when necessary and they always provide detailed and constructive feedback which has provided me with the impetus I needed to develop the functional skills and knowledge for this evolving learning experience. I could not be more happy for their mentorship including other occasions for which I owe them gratitude. Many thanks to Sally and Fuchsia.
Graduate Student Supervision
Doctoral Student Supervision
Dissertations completed in 2010 or later are listed below. Please note that there is a 6-12 month delay to add the latest dissertations.
Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death among African women. Unfortunately, in most sub-Saharan African nations, the healthcare systems are insufficiently structured to address the health needs of individuals, and women are especially vulnerable if they are unaware that cervical cancer is preventable with frequent screening and early treatment. Immigrant women are less likely than the general population in Canada to participate in cervical screening and are substantially more likely to present with advanced-stage cervical cancer. Although some authors have investigated the viewpoints of immigrant women and healthcare providers in Canada, the viewpoints of Black African immigrant women in British Columbia have not yet been explored. In this study, I employed a qualitative research design, drawing on Interpretive Description to begin to address this gap in our knowledge. Physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic forced me to reconsider my intended data collection strategy. My data collection methods, therefore, included informal phone conversations, in-depth interviews, analytic memos, and a reflexive notebook to capture the subjective experiences of the 20 Black African immigrant women interviewed for this study. In keeping with a constructionist epistemology, I used the Interpretive Description methodology to guide my ethnographic analytic process. Using a socio-ecological theoretical lens, I also employed intersectionality as an analytic tool to examine how study participants' numerous interwoven social identities interacted with and influenced one another. Ultimately, my findings point to how the participants’ social identities interact with different contexts of Canadian society and its healthcare system to create distinctive barriers or problems with cervical cancer screening uptake for this population. My hope is that these findings will provide a better understanding of the health needs of Black African immigrant women in order to support their cervical screening uptake.
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Background: Adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) is highly efficacious, significantly reducing breast cancer recurrence and mortality for women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Yet, many women do not adhere to prescribed AET. The purpose of this study was to explore breast cancer survivors’ and healthcare providers’ (HCPs) experiences and perspectives related to AET and adherence.Methods: This study explored personal, social, and structural factors influencing breast cancer survivors’ AET adherence, including an integrative review of patient-reported factors associated with AET adherence and two interpretive description studies with breast cancer survivors prescribed AET and with HCPs who care for women undergoing AET.Findings: The integrative review summarized patient-reported factors associated with AET adherence, including side effects, necessity beliefs, self-efficacy, the patient-HCP relationship, social support, and continuity of follow-up care. Interviews with 22 breast cancer survivors revealed that they struggled with persistence with AET, which they described as a balancing act between quantity and quality of life that was influenced by several different, yet connected, factors. Interviews with 14 HCPs highlighted unique experiences and challenges they faced in providing care to women undergoing AET. They described the nature of AET discussions, challenges in transitioning women to primary care, the difficulty addressing AET-related side effects, and dealing with AET discontinuation. HCPs made key recommendations for improving AET adherence, including developing sustainable models of care for delivering high-quality, cost-effective care to breast cancer survivors.Conclusion: The study findings highlight the multifaceted nature of AET adherence from the perspectives of breast cancer survivors and HCPs. Improving understanding of real-world factorsinfluencing AET adherence is an important step in developing effective patient- and HCP-informed interventions. The development and evaluation of supportive care strategies that address the AET-related challenges experienced by breast cancer survivors and HCPs are needed to potentially increase the quality of women’s lives, improve AET adherence, and ultimately, disease-free survival.
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Master's Student Supervision
Theses completed in 2010 or later are listed below. Please note that there is a 6-12 month delay to add the latest theses.
No abstract available.
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No abstract available.
Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are defined as any report coming directly from the patient about a health condition and its treatment using a self-reported measure. The Prospective Outcomes and Support Initiative (POSI) is an initiative of BC Cancer that drives the provincial coordination of PRO data collection to create system improvements in clinical care processes. This study focuses on the influence of POSI on the role of the radiation therapist (RT) in clinical practice.Fifteen (15) RTs were recruited through POSI team leadership from 6 different BC Cancer sites. Semi-structured telephone interviews were the primary method of data collection, and interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data obtained were analyzed using the software NVIVO and guided by constant comparative methods.Three overarching themes described RT's perspectives on the ways in which POSI influenced their role as a healthcare provider. The first theme that emerged was that RT’s did not perceive POSI as influencing their radiation therapist role. The second theme described how POSI influenced the RT’s caring role through communication. Specifically, POSI enhanced the patient-provider relationship, provided a process through which to educate and advise patients, and the opportunity to address patient questions and/or priorities that they would not otherwise. The third theme portrayed ways in which POSI impeded the RTs ability to perform their usual work by creating extra workload. While the first theme suggests that POSI had minimal influence, the other two themes indicate that POSI influenced the RT-Patient interaction and hence, the overall patient experience during their cancer radiation treatments.POSI can both positively and negatively influence the RT's role in clinical practice. Nonetheless, maximizing the benefits of POSI so as to improve patient care will require concerted efforts to reduce the barriers to administration. Furthermore, creating opportunities for RTs to interact regularly with patients through POSI administration, has the potential to greatly improve the caring role of the RT in clinical practice.
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No abstract available.
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