School of Medicine, University of Missouri , Columbia , Missouri , USA.
School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.
J Psychosoc Oncol. 2019 Nov-Dec;37(6):777-790. doi: 10.1080/07347332.2019.1624674. Epub 2019 Jun 16.
Family caregivers of individuals living with cancer are often highly involved in communication with healthcare teams, yet little is known about their experiences, needs, and preferences in this role. To address this gap in the knowledge base, researchers sought to explore family caregivers' perspectives on communication with oncology care providers. Researchers conducted a secondary inductive thematic analysis of qualitative interviews originally collected as part of a randomized clinical trial of a supportive intervention for family caregivers of patients with cancer ( = 63). Participants were family caregivers of adult patients with cancer. Most were patients' spouses/long-term partners (52.3%) or adult children/grandchildren (29.2%). Caregivers of patients with all cancer types and stages of disease progression were eligible for study enrollment. Caregivers valued communication with healthcare providers who were attentive, genuine, broadly focused on patients and caregivers' experiences, sensitive to unmet information needs, and responsive to the potentially different communication preferences of patients and caregivers. Family caregivers expressed a strong preference for person-centered communication, conceptualized as communication that helps healthcare providers meet the needs of patients and caregivers both as individuals and as an interdependent unit of care, and that acknowledges individuals' experiences beyond their prescribed roles of "cancer patient" and "caregiver." Psychosocial oncology providers' strong orientation to the biopsychosocial and spiritual aspects of cancer care delivery make them uniquely positioned to support family caregivers. Findings suggest that providers should explicitly communicate their commitment to both patient and family care, involve family caregivers in psychosocial assessment activities and subsequent intervention, and strive to honor patients and caregivers' potentially different communication preferences.
癌症患者的家庭照顾者通常在与医疗团队的沟通中高度参与，但他们在这一角色中的经历、需求和偏好却知之甚少。为了填补这一知识空白，研究人员试图探讨家庭照顾者对与肿瘤护理提供者沟通的看法。
研究人员对最初作为癌症患者家庭照顾者支持性干预的随机临床试验（ = 63）的一部分收集的定性访谈进行了二次归纳主题分析。参与者是癌症成年患者的家庭照顾者。大多数是患者的配偶/长期伴侣（52.3%）或成年子女/孙子女（29.2%）。所有癌症类型和疾病进展阶段的患者的照顾者都有资格参加研究。
照顾者重视与关注、真诚、广泛关注患者和照顾者体验、对未满足的信息需求敏感以及对患者和照顾者潜在不同沟通偏好做出反应的医疗保健提供者进行沟通。
家庭照顾者表示强烈偏好以人为本的沟通，这种沟通被认为是帮助医疗保健提供者满足患者和照顾者个人和相互依存的护理单位需求的沟通，并承认个人超越其规定的“癌症患者”和“照顾者”角色的体验。
心理肿瘤学提供者对癌症护理提供的生物心理社会和精神方面的强烈倾向使他们能够独特地支持家庭照顾者。研究结果表明，提供者应明确传达他们对患者和家庭护理的承诺，让家庭照顾者参与心理社会评估活动和随后的干预措施，并努力尊重患者和照顾者潜在的不同沟通偏好。
