The impact of cancer on the patient’s caregiver and related educational programs.
Research Background
Cancer is a disease with high morbidity and mortality rates, and thus dealing with it is difficult. It affects both patients and their families emotionally and physically. It is one of the health predicaments because it leads to deaths, and affects people in all age groups throughout the world, hence making the person diagnosed with cancer to dependent on others. It also affects both patients and their families adversely (Tamayo et al.,2010; Terakye, 2011). It is acclaimed that due to cancer, patients and family members’ daily routine is interrupted and that most cancer patients’ family members suffer from stress. Once the cancer diagnosis is established, family members should hardy try to overcome the challenges arising due to cancer and begin to undertake the role of caregiving (Silveira et al ., 2010; Tamayo et al.,2010; Terakye, 2011). Providing care for a loved one with a chronic or serious illness brings about heavy burdens (Terakye, 2011; Turkoglu and Kilic, 2012). According to the results of the report by the profile of family caregivers at an American Cancer Society Hope Lodge, 2013, of the caregivers, 50% suffered physical health problems and 20% to 66% suffered mental health problems. In addition, of the family care givers, 54% had financial difficulties and 66% had trouble in their working life due to their caregiver roles. In their study conducted to assess family caregivers’ stress arising from their caregivers responsibilities, Gopalan and Brannon (2006) determined that the caregivers had not only physical problems such as impaired immune system and hypertension but also mental health problems such as chronic fatigue, depression, weight gain or loss, difficulty in concentration, muscle pain, and emotional symptoms such as restlessness, insomnia, decreased self-esteem and social isolation (Deeken et al., 2003;Dewar et al., 2013; Ogce et al., 2013; Stajduhar, 2013, Ugur et al., 2014).
Since cancer lasts for a long time, threatens life and prevents the patient from returning to work and social life, the caregiver’s responsibility increases, and roles within the family change (Tamayo et al., 2010; Terakye, 2011) Since family caregivers’ usual daily life routine is interrupted and they cannot return to their work and social life, they worry about themselves and their losses. They also suffer from depression, because they feel anxious, hopeless and helpless, and worry about the patient (Terakye, 2011). Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Family caregivers not only deal with the challenges they face but also try to maintain their caregiver role and keep the situation under control (Silveira et al., 210). However, they quite often feel that they lack knowledge to deal with the life crisis, or they do not have enough energy and resources to meet their patient’s needs.
For the development of health care and rehabilitation programs it is essential to identify the needs of a cancer patient and his family at different phases of diagnosis and treatment of cancer. (Schmid-Buchi et al., 2011). Identifying and understanding the needs will help nurses to focus on the care and to meet the priority needs (Schmid-Buchi et al., 2008). Hence, this research project will provide an overview of the impact of caregiving on reducing depression in cancer patients and on slower development of morbidity not excluding the relevance that educational programs have on the patient’s caregiver and their families.
Research Problem
Similar to other medical practitioners, cancer patient caregivers’ workforce faces a number of job risks that leads to developing a variety of psychological and physical problems, including anxiety, depression, fatigue, reduced self-esteem, and somatic health. The research will explore caregivers’ challenges, needs and ways of coping. Besides, the research will review the effects of caregiving, expectations, and masking feelings. Also, the study will examine the adopted efforts by relevant authorities to promote the best working environment for caregivers
Research Objective
The purpose of this research is to determine the impact of caregiving on reducing depression in cancer patients and on slower development of morbidity a long with the relevance of the educational program on the patient’s caregiver and their families.
Study Questions.
Does caregiving have any impact on reducing depression in cancer patients and on slower development of morbidity?
What relevance does the educational program have on the patient’s caregiver and their families?
Theoretical Framework
Studies have revealed that caregivers feel that they have not been adequately supported by health care professionals. In order for health care professionals to provide support for caregivers, it is important to understand the caregiver’s difficulties, effects of coping and of caregiving on them, and their expectations. However, there are very few studies on difficulties, coping and needs of family caregivers to cancer patients. Therefore, it is considered that the findings of this research will be important in determining the needs, problems and ways of coping of caregivers to cancer patients.
Literature Review
Review of the literature published in Portuguese, English, and Spanish languages between 01/2009 and 12/2013, backed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines; PubMed, Scopus, and SciELO were searched for studies about caregiver training programs developed in the PC field. 53 Palliative Care Associations listed in the European Association of Palliative Care (EAPC) PC ATLAS were approached in order to complement this literature review. Results: seven studies were identified and analyzed concerning the subject matter, measurement instruments, location, results, strategy, and duration of the programs. All educational programs addressed issues connected to the context of end of life; Program duration ranged from four weeks to one year, and took place in PC centers and in hospital; all programs evaluated their respective impact using various measurement instruments. Conclusions: This review shows lack of publications regarding programs designed and developed to create new ideas that are in support of family caregivers in PC. It is shown that caregivers benefit from support groups and educational programs to promote information and caregiver training, but perhaps the lack of funding for this kind of interventions can affect the caregiver’s treatment.
Target Population
The study will make use of 20 cancer patient’s caregivers and five family members from American Cancer Society Hope Lodge. The study will take a duration of one month in the year 2020. In the study, caregivers will be considered since they engage more with the patients in every aspect, hence they will be valuable sources of information. These people will be in a good position to give their opinion on how they have been affected by the care giving process to their patients and the difficulties they have encountered in the process of bestowing their services.
Research Methodology
The study will use qualitative methods in which explanatory technique will be highly adopted. This approach will aim to assess a problem, which is not precisely defined. The statement mean that explanatory techniques will attempt to find out situations and conditions about issues, which are not defined (Bellemare, Masaki & Pepinsky, 2017). Besides, the research will use both primary and secondary sources. The primary sources will entail interviews, participant observation, and questionnaires (Griffin, 2019). The major primary method that will be used is interview (both structured and unstructured) through the use of active cancer patient’s caregivers since they will provide better understanding of the impact of caregiving on reducing depression in cancer patients and on slower development of morbidity. In addition, unstructured interviews will be effective in the study as every caregiver will differently answer the same issues and questions.
Data collection
Data will be collected through semi-structured individual interviews. The interviews will be made by an experienced researcher who has trained in qualitative research methods. The interviews will be conducted in the chemotherapy unit. A quiet and safe physical environment will be created for the interviews. The interviews will be audio-recorded. The research questions will be: Does caregiving have any impact on reducing depression in cancer patients and on slower development of morbidity? What relevance does the educational program have on the patient’s caregiver and their families?
Data analysis
Content analysis will be used in the analysis of data, using the process described by Graneheim and Lundman (2004). To increase the reliability of data that will be analyzed, the participants’ statement will be separately coded by two authors. The codes from these two individual authors will be compared, and the differences discussed and re-evaluated until shared codes and categories are created.
Ethical considerations
Ethical considerations will be followed where the participants will be told the reasons for engaging them in the research. During this process, the subjects will be educated on the study and its importance. The participants will then be allowed to agree to take part in the research through signatures without using forceful means (Iphofen, 2016). Free participation will be an important aspect in realizing a successful study due to security and social concerns to minimize victimization cases. Consequently, there will be high confidentiality where the participants’ information will be maintained privately (Wei et al., 2016). This aspect will be realized by tagging the subjects’ names that will present them as anonymous sources of data. Also, restricting accessibility of the information to only authorized research personnel will enhance confidentiality.
Significance of the Study
Attempts to assess and determine ways in which educational programs for caregivers of the cancer patients have impacted the emotional and psychological wellbeing of the patients and their family members and if there is a specific educational program for caregivers to support patients and their families will offer an opportunity to formulate policy institutions and recommendations that will promote delivery of service. This claim indicates that the research outcomes will be essential to policy makers, such as Medical Practitioners, non-governmental organizations, and government officials who will come up with best practices to reinforce the well-being of cancer patients’ caregivers. Besides, empirical significance will be an outcome of the study, which will help students pursuing medical courses to have an understanding of this occupation. Also, the research will reflect the practical importance of the police service.
Research Budget
Item
Activity Description
Requested amount
Study participants
-Piloting test and focus groups
-Interviewers
-Transcribers
-Graduate Research Assistant
-$3, 600
-$1,000
-$3,500
-$2,500
Materials and Supplies
-Envelopes
-Question and answer booklets
-Postage
-Misc. Supplies
-$40
-$60
-$75
-$35
Travel
-Total direct cost
-Indirect costs
-$8,000
-$2,100
Food
-Snacks
-$3,200
Total cost
-$ 24,110
Qualifications
I am competent and ready to do the research since the skills that the subject has imparted in me will provide accurate result. Also, I have gained adequate command over this subject, which implies that I will easily utilize the theoretical study in practical work. Besides, I have an understanding of the materials and equipment to be used along with sufficient analytical skills that assures the best research performance.
Future Research
The present study will focus on the ways in which educational programs for caregivers of cancer patients impact on the emotional and psychological wellbeing of the patients and their family members. This situation will help offer deeper insight on the challenges patients face in cancer care.
References
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Chang, Y., Kwon, Y., Lee, W., Do, Y., Lee, K., & Kim, H. et al. (2013). Burdens, Needs and Satisfaction of
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https://doi.org/10.7314/apjcp.2014.15.4.1643
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https://doi.org/10.1016/s0885-3924(03)00327-0
DEW, M., MYASKOVSKY, L., DIMARTINI, A., SWITZER, G., SCHULBERG, H., & KORMOS, R. (2004).
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Graneheim, U., & Lundman, B. (2004). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: concepts,
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Eriksson, & Lauri. (2000). Informational and emotional support for cancer patients’ relatives. European
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