Posted on April 16, 2001 at 2:20 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Psychologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) are studying how the Internet can be used to improve the quality of life for breast cancer patients.

Breast cancer patients often turn to support groups to help them cope. But studies indicate that psychological interventions that address patients’ emotional changes and help them learn additional coping strategies are more effective than traditional support groups. UAB researchers have created a Web site, health.psy.uab.edu/survive, where women undergoing breast cancer treatments and follow-up care can share their personal experiences with each other through an online support group and get information on coping with cancer. The Web site is part of a larger, three-year clinical trial called Project Survive that’s funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The field of psycho-oncology has become an important field of study for research and clinical services, says the project’s principal investigator Jason Owen, a UAB doctoral student who created the Web site. The Project Survive site gives women information on how to cope with specific physical and emotional symptoms and side effects associated with cancer and its treatment and helps them understand their disease.

“It’s much beyond a chat room,” said UAB psychologist Diane Tucker, Ph.D., who is working with Owen on the project. “It’s a structured support group with a purposeful intervention to help people develop coping skills.”

Researchers will evaluate the participants’ quality of life and monitor their physical and emotional side effects associated with cancer. The study could lead to the development of supportive services that give more extensive psychosocial care to cancer patients. Researchers are recruiting 120 women for the study. Call Diane Tucker, Ph.D., UAB professor of psychology, (205) 934-8885, or Jason Owen, (205) 934-1617.