Department of Nursing, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.
PLoS One. 2020 Mar 12;15(3):e0229683. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229683. eCollection 2020.
Significant number of women present with advanced-stage breast cancer in Ghana. These women usually depend on family caregivers for their multi-dimensional needs. Yet, there are gaps in research about what motivates family caregivers to assume the caring role and their experiences with caregiving within the Ghanaian context.
To explore and describe the caregiving motivations and experiences among family caregivers of patients living with advanced breast cancer.
In-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 15 family caregivers who were providing unpaid care for women living with advanced breast cancer. Colaizzi's thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.
Family relationship normally prescribed the caregiving role among family caregivers. Due to the lack of home-based palliative services in Ghana, findings suggest that family caregivers are the main managers of advanced breast cancer-related symptoms in the home. These findings are discussed under three major themes: (i) motivation for assuming the caregiving role; (ii) meeting self-care and psychosocial needs of the patient; and (iii) symptom management and monitoring.
Socio-cultural values influence the role of family caregivers in Ghana. This presents opportunities for health professionals and relevant stakeholders to develop a culturally-appropriate intervention to support informal caregivers in their home-based care for women living with advanced breast cancer in Ghana.
在加纳，相当数量的女性患有晚期乳腺癌。这些女性通常依赖家庭照顾者来满足其多方面的需求。然而，在研究中，关于家庭照顾者承担照顾角色的动机以及他们在加纳背景下的照顾经验方面存在空白。
探讨和描述为晚期乳腺癌患者提供照顾的家庭照顾者的照顾动机和经验。
对 15 名正在为晚期乳腺癌女性提供无偿照顾的家庭照顾者进行了深入的半结构化定性访谈。使用科莱齐的主题分析方法对数据进行分析。
家庭关系通常规定了家庭照顾者的照顾角色。由于加纳缺乏基于家庭的姑息治疗服务，研究结果表明，家庭照顾者是家庭中管理晚期乳腺癌相关症状的主要人员。这些发现根据三个主要主题进行了讨论：（i）承担照顾角色的动机；（ii）满足患者的自我护理和心理社会需求；以及（iii）症状管理和监测。
社会文化价值观影响了加纳家庭照顾者的角色。这为卫生专业人员和相关利益相关者提供了机会，可以制定一种文化上适当的干预措施，以支持加纳家庭中为晚期乳腺癌女性提供照顾的非正式照顾者。
