PhD student explores how family support shapes healing for Latina breast cancer survivors
Drawing on years of caring for Latino families in Arizona and her own family's Puerto Rican heritage, College of Nursing PhD candidate Jacquelyn N. Martin is exploring how family relationships can support the emotional well-being of Latina breast cancer survivors. This research has earned her the college's Frederick Lange Memorial Endowment Award to support her dissertation study.
Martin's interest in the topic stems from both her professional and personal experiences. Throughout her nursing career in Arizona, she has worked primarily with Latino and Hispanic populations. Her husband and children are Puerto Rican, and her clinical work has focused on family health and cancer care.
"Cancer, especially breast cancer, is a family disease that affects everyone," Martin said.
Despite the growing number of Latina breast cancer survivors in the United States, relatively little research has examined how culturally specific family dynamics shape survivorship experiences. Martin's mixed-methods study seeks to address that gap by exploring how family engagement influences survivors' experiences after treatment.
“Breast cancer survivors often face ongoing emotional and psychological challenges, making family involvement crucial to long-term well-being,” says Martin. Her research examines whether an online meditation intervention delivered in conjunction with a family support partner can reduce psychological distress among Latina survivors.
The study also employs an innovative qualitative approach known as the pláticas methodology. Unlike traditional question-and-answer interviews, pláticas is a conversational approach in which participants and researchers co-construct knowledge through dialogue. The method has been widely used in educational research since the 1970s, but has rarely been applied in nursing research, particularly in interventional health studies. It is designed to better align with Latino cultural values by fostering a more equitable exchange in which participants serve as active contributors to knowledge rather than subjects of data collection.
Through these conversations, Martin will also examine experiences with familismo, a cultural value that emphasizes close family relationships, mutual support, and collective well-being. Her aim is for her findings to inform culturally responsive interventions that support the emotional well-being of Latina breast cancer survivors and their families.
"Jacquelyn's commitment to advancing health equity through rigorous research, coupled with her willingness to mentor and support fellow students, has made her an outstanding member of our doctoral community," said Juyoung Park, PhD, MSW, FGSA, interim division chair of Nursing and Health Sciences (NHS) and PhD program director. "This recognition reflects both her accomplishments and the meaningful contributions she is poised to make as a nurse scientist."
The Frederick Lange Memorial Endowment Award supports doctoral students conducting research that advances health outcomes and nursing science. The funding will support participant recruitment, data analysis, and dissemination of findings.
"Receiving this award is both an honor and encouragement as I work to better understand and support the experiences of Latina breast cancer survivors and their families," Martin said. "It will also enable me to fairly compensate participants for their time and contributions as co-constructors of research knowledge."
This award is the latest recognition in Martin's doctoral journey. In 2024, she was selected as a Jonas Scholar, a national program that prepares future nursing faculty through financial support, mentorship, leadership development, and professional networking over a two-year period.
Martin is now in her fourth year of the college's PhD program. She credits faculty mentorship, interdisciplinary collaboration, and opportunities to engage in meaningful research as instrumental to her development as a nurse scientist. She also expressed gratitude for the guidance of her dissertation committee members, including Thaddeus Pace, PhD; Jessica Rainbow, PhD, RN; and Julio Loya, PhD, RN.
As both a registered nurse and a researcher, Martin is committed to addressing health disparities and expanding access to supportive care interventions for underserved communities. Although she transitioned to full-time research in 2022, she continues to serve as an adjunct clinical instructor and regularly volunteers as a triage nurse at Clinica Amistad, a free clinic in South Tucson that primarily serves uninsured Hispanic patients. She also serves as a clinical coordinator for Pace's SUPORT Project, a nationwide study evaluating compassion meditation for breast cancer survivors and their support partners. Participants in her dissertation study are being recruited through this project, enabling her to build on broader efforts to improve survivorship support.
"I love volunteering at Clinica Amistad because it keeps me connected to the population I enjoy working with," Martin said. "The clinic addresses a critical gap in health care for migrants, immigrants, and uninsured people in our community."
By elevating the voices of Latina breast cancer survivors and their family supporters, Martin hopes her research will help healthcare providers deliver more culturally responsive survivorship care and improve quality of life for future patients and their families.