Cervical Cancer Prevention Week is an annual initiative that takes place the last week of January with the goal of raising awareness about cervical cancer, encouraging women to attend cervical screenings, and educating about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
Cervical cancer is most often caused by an infection with high-risk types of HPV, leading abnormal cells in the cervix to form a tumor. While cervical cancer was once one of the most common causes of cancer death in American women, this has decreased by more than 50% since the 1970s due to the increased use of screenings and preventative methods, as well as advances in treatment.
The Patient Perspective
Living with cervical cancer involves navigating a range of challenges, from managing the logistics of treatment and medical appointments, to coping with the emotional impacts of the disease.
Let’s listen to a 41- to 45-year-old woman with cervical cancer describe what it’s like for her to live with this condition and some of the challenges she faces.
Decoding the Patient Voice
Understanding the patient voice is at the heart of what we do at inVibe, which we approach holistically by analyzing what is said, how it’s said, and how it sounds.
Looking first at what she is saying and how, this patient conveys the two main elements of her disease experience. On the one hand, she describes the feeling of having cervical cancer in evocative terms: “terrifying” and “super scary.” On the other, she acknowledges the roles preventative care and management play in making the disease “manageable and controllable”. While it is “very treatable,” the logistical burden of doctor’s appointments adds an additional challenge to manage on top of the fear of relapsing or progressing.
Focusing on how it sounds, she describes the disease itself with strongly negative emotionality (‘valence’), which emphasizes the frustrations and fear of living with a life-threatening condition and her frustration with the burdens of treatment. As she describes the care process, however, this negative emotionality lessens, as well as the acoustic signals of stress (‘activation’), corresponding with the low-level frustration patients with chronic conditions often describe.
Taken together, this patient’s response underscores the importance of early detection of cervical cancer. Although the condition is scary, and treatment can be burdensome, routine screenings to detect abnormal cells help those living with cervical cancer to keep their condition under control.
Simple, Systematic, Scalable
Our Listening Platform makes it simple for patients to speak with us about their experiences in an open and authentic way and easy for you to engage with their perspectives directly.
If you’re interested in hearing from more patients like this one so that you can gain insight into their experiences, beliefs, behaviors, and desires, schedule a demo with us today and see for yourself.
