dr. ronald e. mcnair acknowledgements - University of St. Thomas

UST McNair Scholars Program Research Journal
interesting about this study was the more wives reported
they mattered to their husbands, the more likely they were
to report the division of house work was equal, even if this
was not the case. In other words, work equality depended
upon how much the women felt they mattered to
husbands.
Mattering has also been shown to be a key factor in
mental health and wellness among adolescents (Rayle,
2005). A study conducted with high school students aimed
to show the link between mattering to significant others,
such as family, and the overall wellness of students. This
study defined wellness in terms of physical, emotional, and
psychological well-being. Students felt they mattered to
their families when they were assured they were significant,
viewed as important, depended on by their families, and
when their families were concerned with their fate and paid
attention to them. It was found that females felt they
mattered to their families more than males. Furthermore,
it was also reported that mattering significantly predicted
wellness for females. In other words, when females scored
high for mattering, they also scored high in wellness.
Though studies have looked at a wide range of topics
pertaining to mattering, little has been done in regards to
mattering in a health care context as relating to lifethreatening
diseases.
Human beings are multi-cellular organisms composed
of structural and functional units called cells. Cells grow
and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as they
are needed to keep the body healthy. When cells become
old or damaged, they die and are replaced with new cells.
This work of art called the body, though complex and aweinspiring,
is not perfect. There are several diseases which
afflict the body without warning and threaten the life and
livelihood of the host. Oftentimes, in the division of cells,
something goes wrong and abnormal cells divide without
control and are able to invade other tissues. The most
common term for this abnormality is “cancer.” The
National Cancer Institute reports that there are over a
hundred types of cancers, among which the most common
to women is malignant neoplasms, or breast cancer.
According to the National Cancer Institute, there were
207,090 reported new cases of breast cancer in 2010 within
the United States alone. Modern advancements in medicine
have made it possible for more women to survive breast
cancer than ever before (Salonen et al., 2011). Using the
2
latest data available, survival rates for those diagnosed with
breast cancer are 89% after 5 years, 81% after 10 years, and
73% after 15 years. This is a significant increase in survival
rates compared to previous years (American Cancer Society,
2010). These increased survival rates indicate the need for
issues related to survivorship and long-term quality of life
to be added to overall treatment considerations (Kaiser et
al., 2009). If the patient matters, there could be a shift in
efforts to not only wipe out the cancer cells but to try and
preserve the livelihood of the patient after treatments are
over. Livelihood in this case refers to the patient’s ability
to return to their employment or the way in which they
make their income. Medical advances allow doctors to
provide more personalized care for their patients. During
treatment, oftentimes doctors become focused in their
work of eradicating the cancer cells they forget treatment,
at least in some aspects, should be based on requirements
defined by women with breast cancer (Landmark, bohler,
Loberg, & Wahl, 2008). Research suggests the women are
experts on their own lives and ideal doctors will listen to
them and try to find ways to preserve their livelihood post
treatment (Theisel, Schielein, & Splebl, 2010). The key
topic to preserving the life and livelihood of a patient is
whether or not the patient matters to the medical
professionals as an individual.
One such study that looked at the doctor-patient
interaction as a part of mattering did so by studying
interpersonal trust (Kaiser et al., 2009). The study looked
at breast cancer patients’ trust in several of their health care
providers. The study assessed breast cancer patients’ trust
in regular providers, diagnosing physicians, and their
cancer treatment team. In this study, patient trust was
associated with patient satisfaction and treatment
adherence. Findings suggest a trusting relationship with a
regular provider facilitated higher satisfaction with other
specialists (Kaiser et al., 2009). Though this study had
important findings, it does not explain why patients were
more likely to trust other specialists if they trusted their
primary doctor. Mattering could be one of the key
components of trust in a doctor-patient relationship. If a
patient feels they matter to their primary doctors, they
might trust them more. This trust could be carried over to
other specialists the doctor recommends.
Another qualitative study that assessed the relationship
between patients and doctors was conducted with 13