"I'm not the one with cancer but it's affecting me just as much": A qualitative study of rural caregivers' experiences seeking and accessing support for their health and wellbeing while caring for someone with cancer.
Caregivers
Oncology
Qualitative research
Regional and remote
Supportive care
Journal
Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
ISSN: 1433-7339
Titre abrégé: Support Care Cancer
Pays: Germany
ID NLM: 9302957
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
31 Oct 2024
31 Oct 2024
Historique:
received:
19
07
2024
accepted:
17
10
2024
medline:
1
11
2024
pubmed:
1
11
2024
entrez:
31
10
2024
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Caregivers provide vital support to people with cancer but often report feeling unsupported themselves. This study investigated rural caregivers' experiences seeking support for their health and wellbeing while caring for someone with cancer. Through semi-structured interviews, 20 rural caregivers described their experiences seeking and accessing support for their own health and wellbeing while caring for someone with cancer, including what support was, or would have been, helpful. Interview transcripts were analysed using content analysis to identify the type and source of support sought and what aspects of the support were helpful or unhelpful. Health and wellbeing support was sought across medical and psychosocial domains. Caregivers' responses reflected both facilitators and barriers to support-seeking and benefits and challenges of accessing support. Facilitators to support-seeking included telehealth options and being involved in patient care discussions, as this helped caregivers know what to expect in their role. Barriers included social isolation while travelling for treatment and caregivers' needs for support not being acknowledged or understood by medical staff or social networks. Benefits of accessing support included help with managing daily responsibilities and being linked with additional services. Challenges included delays in receiving support, inadequate duration of support, and lack of lived experience among care providers. To optimise rural caregivers' access to support for their health and wellbeing, support services should be prompt and flexible in delivery, simple to navigate, integrated with patient care, improve caregivers' coping ability, provide access to additional supports, and reduce caregiver burden.
Identifiants
pubmed: 39480520
doi: 10.1007/s00520-024-08947-9
pii: 10.1007/s00520-024-08947-9
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
761Informations de copyright
© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
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