
Pakikisama: lessons learned in partnership building with Filipinas with breast cancer for culturally meaningful support. San Francisco Bay Area Filipinas with breast cancer underutilize support services. Our partnership engaged in community-based participatory research (CBPR) that involved formation of a community advisory board (CAB) representing low-income, low-English-proficient Filipinas with breast cancer. While CABs are a standard component of CBPR projects, the process of establishing and fostering CAB involvement has been under studied. This commentary explores the process our team used-building upon the Filipino cultural method of pakikisama which stresses making the other feel welcome, safe, and nurtured-to overcome barriers to active engagement.