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Research Projects

Pill PACT Study

Building upon the IMPACT Study findings, the overall objective of the Pill PACT (Patient Adherence to Cancer Therapy) Study, conducted from 2024 to 2029, is to comprehensively characterize adherence initiation and persistence and identify temporal correlates with both multilevel factors that increase risk for poor adherence and health outcomes among diverse patients with multiple myeloma, CML, and CLL.

IMPACT Study

The IMPACT (Influence of Myeloma Patient Adherence to Cancer Therapy) Study was conducted from 2021-2023. The purpose of this study was to understand how medication adherence affected health outcomes among people who have multiple myeloma. This research is growing in importance as oral anticancer medication becomes more widely prescribed. A greater knowledge of how oral anticancer medication adherence influenced patient health outcomes over time and how financial hardship affected these relationships has informed future large- scale studies aimed at developing timely, targeted interventions to improve adherence, reduce pain, and improve quality of life in patients with cancer.  

Sharing IMPACT Study Findings

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Annual Retreat 

Dr. Belcher presented findings from her K23 supported IMPACT Study and participated in the patient-focused panel during the, “What can we learn from individual patients?” session at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Annual Retreat.

Dr. Belcher serving as a panelist during the retreat
Dr. Belcher serving as a panelist during the retreat.
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 American Society of Clinical Oncology 2024 Meeting Presenter

Dr. Belcher presented the primary findings from the IMPACT Study, her team's National Institute of Nursing Research K23 award supported study, at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. They found that patients with multiple myeloma exhibited differing patterns of adherence to oral maintenance therapy that clustered into dynamic and distinct patterns over time. Participants who reported being Black or Hispanic were more likely to be in the lower adherence groups, suggesting possible mechanisms of cancer outcome inequities and a need for additional studies to better understand multi-level factors that affect adherence and to equitably support patients taking these medications.

COPE Study

As part of her postdoc work, Dr. Belcher served as a co-PI alongside Dr. Katherine Yeager, PhD, RN, FAAN, to complete the COPE (COst during Oncology PalliativE care) Study. The purpose of the study was to describe financial hardship and its association with quality of life among patients with advanced cancer in the palliative care setting. Their study was funded by the Palliative Care Pilot & Dissertation Research Grant Program at Emory University. The published study, entitled "Examining the Relationship between Economic Hardship and Quality of Life in the Outpatient Oncology Palliative Care Setting: A Pilot Study" can be found here.

LAMP Study

The LAMP (Life After Multiple Primary cancers) Study was conducted by Dr. Belcher as her PhD dissertation. The study's purpose was to test a psychobehavioral stress-response model to identify factors associated with multiple primary cancers health outcomes. 

Dr. Belcher's full dissertation manuscript can be found here. 

In addition to the dissertation manuscript, 3 additional papers were published as a result of this study:

1. Psychobehavioral risk factors for financial hardship and poor functional outcomes in survivors of multiple primary cancers

2. Examining the relationship between multiple primary cancers and psychological distress: A review of current literature

3. Psychological Distress, Health Behaviors, and Benefit Finding in Survivors of Multiple Primary Cancers: Results From the 2010 Livestrong Survey

 

Funding for this study:

  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholars​
  • American Cancer Society (DSCNR-17-077)​
  • Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania PhD Scholarship​
  • University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing Margaret E. Wilkes Scholarship Fund Award
  • The Newmeyer-Thompson Doctoral Student Award
  • The Bessie Li Sze Scholarship Fund Award