What if the biggest reason women stop life-saving treatment isn't the medication—but clinicians talk to them about it?

In this eye-opening episode, I talk with Dr. Janeane Anderson, a powerhouse researcher and faculty member at the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health, about the hidden reasons so many women stop taking critical medications like tamoxifen. It’s not just about the side effects—it’s about the silence surrounding them.

We dig into her research on how poor communication, racial bias, trauma, and lack of sexual health conversations lead to lower adherence rates, especially for Black women. We also explore the idea of epistemic injustice—how patients are often dismissed, even when they know something is wrong. Janeane shares how this harm shows up in the room and what clinicians can do to build trust and improve care.

From religious shame to relationship dynamics, sexual trauma, and systemic inequality, this conversation doesn’t shy away from the messy, painful, and very real barriers women face in their health journeys. But we also talk about hope—what it looks like to listen better, ask different questions, and create safer spaces for patients to advocate for themselves.

If you're a patient who's ever felt unheard, or a clinician who wants to do better, this one's for you.

Highlights:

• Why Black women are disproportionately affected by advanced-stage breast cancer.
• The link between sexual dysfunction and stopping cancer treatment.
• How religion, shame, and duty shape sexual health after diagnosis.
• What epistemic injustice means and how it plays out in exam rooms.
• Simple but powerful questions doctors can ask to avoid retraumatizing patients.

If this episode resonated with you, please hit subscribe, leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Let’s change how we talk about women's health—together.

Dr. Janeane N. Anderson Bio:

Janeane N. Anderson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community and Population Health in the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) in Memphis, TN. Dr. Anderson completed postdoctoral research fellowships at Emory University and UTHSC. She earned a Ph.D. in Communication and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Southern California.

Dr. Anderson’s research targets the relationship between patient-clinician communication practices and clinical and quality of life outcomes among Black adults with chronic health conditions, specifically breast cancer, HIV/AIDS, and vulvovaginal and pelvic pain.

Past extramural funding from National Cancer Institute supported studies that explored patient-clinician communication, treatment adherence, and sexual health challenges among women with early-stage, HR+ breast cancer. Funding from the Washington DC Center for AIDS Research supported development of a shared decision-making tool to improve uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among Black sexual minority men; the Tennessee Department of Health funding supported development and implementation of a training for healthcare professional students to improve communication practices for PrEP education and counseling.

Currently, she is the Co-PI of a $1.58 million industry-sponsored grant to investigate multilevel barriers to healthcare access and utilization among Black women with de novo metastatic breast cancer and those with increased risk for advanced breast disease in the U.S. Mid-South region.

Dr. Anderson’s professional activities also include developing faculty resources and university-level programming to address diversity, equity, and inclusion goals and objectives. She is frequently invited to give lectures on systems of oppression, patient-centered communication practices, and sensitive and socially relevant topics within U.S. healthcare system for national and international organizations.

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