Breast cancer is difficult for anyone to cope with, but it can be especially hard for a younger couple. A new study by Dr. Karen Fergus aims to help young couples cope with breast cancer through an innovative online tool called Couplelinks.
“Breast cancer is coming at a time in their lives when everything is in the upswing – careers are just getting off the ground, they are establishing a family or maybe just starting one. For reasons such as these, younger women and younger couples coping with breast cancer experience more distress than with women diagnosed later in life,” says Dr. Fergus.
A young woman is considered anyone of child bearing years, close to or under the age of 40.
The study, which just received funding from the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance/Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Special Research Competition on Psychosocial Aspects of Breast Cancer, examines whether participation in Couplelinks can be instrumental in strengthening a young couple’s ability to cope with the illness.
The first phase of the study, which was funded by the Ontario region of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation in 2008, helped to establish the website and enabled an initial evaluation of couple satisfaction with the program. During the second phase, which is funded by the current grant, 80 couples from across Canada will participate but only half will receive the treatment during the study. The two groups will be compared on the same questionnaires to determine if Couplelinks is helpful.
If proven effective, this tool would be made available to all young couples affected by breast cancer in future years. It would also be one of very few resources available to young couples.
In her psychotherapy practice over the years, Dr. Fergus recognized the lack of support services aimed at young people dealing with breast cancer.
“There weren’t a lot of resources for younger women dealing with breast cancer,” says Dr. Fergus. “Many of them would come to me and say that although they were part of a support group, they couldn’t really connect with the other members who were a good deal older than them.”
Dr. Fergus is a Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor with the Department of Psychology at York University. She is cross-appointed with the Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre where, in addition to her research activities, she has had an active psychotherapy and counseling practice since 1998. From 2003 to 2005, she was a postdoctoral fellow with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – Ontario Region.
There are even less resources for young men wishing to support a young woman with breast cancer. In most cases, the male is the primary support and caregiver, and how well the partner copes and offers support plays a key role in the strength of the coping skills of the female.
“I believe that if the men have guidance and support then they can better support the women in their lives,” says Dr Fergus.
It’s for these reasons that Couplelinks was developed. It meets the specific needs of younger couples and is easily implemented through the internet. Creating this program online makes it flexible, easy to access, cost-effective, and gives anonymity to couples to really express themselves.
“Young couples have more distress coping with breast cancer but they also tend to have more demands on their time with raising young families, working full time, etc,” says Dr. Fergus. “Making the time and a commitment to see a couples counselor was just not an option for most of them. In using an online format, couples can fit it into their schedules and have the benefit of anonymity.”
Dr. Fergus also points out that the Couplelinks program is geared to that window of time between recovery from treatment and trying to get back to daily life because that transition can be difficult for couples.
“There is a common trap that couples fall into as treatment is winding down,” says Dr. Fergus. “Between finishing treatments and trying to get their lives back to normal there’s still an emotional aftermath that needs to be addressed and much more physical recovery.”
The program is approximately 8 weeks long and is constantly guided by Dr. Fergus and her team who work to ensure couples develop the tools they need to strengthen their relationship and cope with breast cancer together.
“My hope is that by successfully meeting the challenges of breast cancer, it can be a bonding experience for couples, one that can make their relationship stronger in the long run,” says Dr. Fergus.