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Purpose@#Cancer survivors and family caregivers may experience a vague sense of fear or worry about the possibility of recurrence.The family caregivers of cancer survivors experience numerous psychological hardships because, depending on the patient’s state, they must play various roles and accompany the patient through a series of events. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the nature and structure of the experiences of family caregivers of cancer survivors in relation to the fear of cancer recurrence. Additionally, it sought to obtain the central meanings associated with these experiences. @*Methods@#We recruited four adult family caregivers of patients who were diagnosed with cancer between February and October 2020. The caregiver participants voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. To analyze their experiences regarding fear of cancer recurrence, we collected data using the qualitative case study and by conducting individual in-depth interviews. @*Results@#Family caregivers’ experiences comprised four themes (“Standing at the edge of a cliff,” “Ambushed by worries,” “Anxiety I never want to experience again,” and “Making efforts to relieve anxiety”) and 11 subthemes. @*Conclusion@#Family caregivers of cancer survivors experience daily psychological hardships owing to fear of cancer recurrence. It is important to identify the unmet needs of family caregivers and provide practical and professional nursing interventions.
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Purpose@#We developed a comprehensive return to work (RTW) intervention covering physical, psycho-social and practical issues for patients newly diagnosed and evaluated its efficacy in terms of RTW. @*Materials and Methods@#A multi-center randomized controlled trial was done to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention conducted at two university-based cancer centers in Korea. The intervention program comprised educational material at diagnosis, a face-to-face educational session at completion of active treatment, and three individualized telephone counseling sessions. The control group received other education at enrollment. @*Results@#At 1-month post-intervention (T2), the intervention group was more likely to be working compared to the control group after controlling working status at diagnosis (65.4% vs. 55.9%, p=0.037). Among patients who did not work at baseline, the intervention group was 1.99-times more likely to be working at T2. The mean of knowledge score was higher in the intervention group compared to the control group (7.4 vs. 6.8, p=0.029). At the 1-year follow-up, the intervention group was 65% (95% confidence interval, 0.78 to 3.48) more likely to have higher odds for having work. @*Conclusion@#The intervention improved work-related knowledge and was effective in facilitating cancer patients’ RTW.
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Purpose@#: This study aimed to develop a program that promotes posttraumatic growth (PTG) in young breast cancer survivors returning to work and measure its feasibility. @*Methods@#: This study was conducted at a university-based cancer center in Seoul, Republic of Korea. After a literature review, in-depth interviews, and network analysis of the online community, a 4-week group-based education program was developed. The program consisted of post-cancer life, exercise, nutritional, psychological, and esthetic management. The primary outcome was PTG, and secondary outcomes were rumination, distress, and thinking about returning to work. @*Results@#: Fifteen young breast cancer survivors working at the time of cancer diagnosis participated in the program. The mean age of the participants was 41.80 ± 5.03 years and the time since diagnosis was 14.07 ± 15.90 months. There were significant differences in the total PTG and PTG sub-item scores in relation to others, personal strengths, and anxiety (p<0.05). Confidence in returning to work was also significantly different (p<0.05). @*Conclusion@#: PTG promotion programs will be effective in helping young breast cancer survivors to return to work. Further studies involving a larger sample and a longer follow-up period are required.
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Purpose@#The purpose of this study is to explore healthcare professionals’ experience of talking about the fear of cancer recurrence with cancer survivors. @*Methods@#Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 healthcare professionals at two university hospitals in South Korea from August to September 2019. Interviewed healthcare professionals were oncologists and oncology nurses who had at least five years of experience in caring for cancer survivors. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for qualitative content analysis. @*Results@#Participants agreed that most cancer survivors experience fear of cancer recurrence on some level.However, health care professionals rarely heard the word ‘recurrence’ directly from cancer survivors, and they responded to cancer survivors’ concern about recurrence differently. Some of them intervened in the cancer survivors’ problems actively but some had minimum communication with cancer survivors. Health professionals believed that interventions were necessary not only for the survivors but also for themselves. @*Conclusion@#Healthcare professionals need education or training on how to respond to and manage cancer survivors’ fear of recurrence in clinical settings, considering its impact on survivors’ quality of life.
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Purpose@#The purpose of this study is to explore healthcare professionals’ experience of talking about the fear of cancer recurrence with cancer survivors. @*Methods@#Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 healthcare professionals at two university hospitals in South Korea from August to September 2019. Interviewed healthcare professionals were oncologists and oncology nurses who had at least five years of experience in caring for cancer survivors. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for qualitative content analysis. @*Results@#Participants agreed that most cancer survivors experience fear of cancer recurrence on some level.However, health care professionals rarely heard the word ‘recurrence’ directly from cancer survivors, and they responded to cancer survivors’ concern about recurrence differently. Some of them intervened in the cancer survivors’ problems actively but some had minimum communication with cancer survivors. Health professionals believed that interventions were necessary not only for the survivors but also for themselves. @*Conclusion@#Healthcare professionals need education or training on how to respond to and manage cancer survivors’ fear of recurrence in clinical settings, considering its impact on survivors’ quality of life.
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PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to identify needs and barriers that cancer patients experience with returning to work (RTW) by analyzing posts of the patients on the Internet. METHODS: Posts of online communities of the cancer patients related to RTW were collected using key words from Jan. 2004 to Dec. 2017. PFNet and NodeXL were utilized to visualize intellectual interchanges of the keywords. Additional content analysis of the posts was then conducted to specify informational needs related to RTW. RESULTS: There were 996 posts and 6394 responses related to RTW. A total of 163 and 129 keywords were found for posts and responses respectively. Posts were categorized into four groups by network analysis: 1) cancer diagnosis and treatment; 2) changing working status after cancer diagnosis; 3) concerns about RTW during cancer treatment; 4) balance of work and life after cancer. Responses were grouped into similar themes but most of them were empathetic or encouraging messages. CONCLUSION: Cancer patients posted various concerns and needs in relation to RTW on the online communities. At the same time, they expressed difficulties to obtain information and resources about RTW both on and off line. Further studies would be necessary to develop appropriate intervention for helping cancer patients to return to work.
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Humans , Diagnosis , Internet , Return to Work , Social Networking , SurvivorsABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Cancer patients are at a higher risk of being unemployed or facing difficulty in returning to work (RTW) than individuals without health concerns. The aim of this study is to identify and describe interventions developed specifically to assist cancer patients to RTW after treatment. METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted from September to October 2018 in different international databases: PubMed, Medline, and Embase. Studies using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed designs were included if they satisfied the following criteria: (a) described an intervention to assist cancer patients to RTW during or after treatment; (b) conducted on patients aged 18 and over and diagnosed with cancer; (c) written in English; (d) published in peer-reviewed journals. RESULTS: Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Counseling with physical activity intervention, behavioral training to reduce fatigue, and multi-disciplinary rehabilitation programs were found to be effective. CONCLUSION: Interventions adopting a multidisciplinary approach were effective for RTW in cancer patients. This literature review emphasizes the need for more tailored interventions based on survivors' needs and characteristics in the RTW field.
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Humans , Counseling , Fatigue , Motor Activity , Rehabilitation , Return to Work , SurvivorsABSTRACT
PURPOSE@#Cancer patients are at a higher risk of being unemployed or facing difficulty in returning to work (RTW) than individuals without health concerns. The aim of this study is to identify and describe interventions developed specifically to assist cancer patients to RTW after treatment.@*METHODS@#A comprehensive search was conducted from September to October 2018 in different international databases: PubMed, Medline, and Embase. Studies using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed designs were included if they satisfied the following criteria: (a) described an intervention to assist cancer patients to RTW during or after treatment; (b) conducted on patients aged 18 and over and diagnosed with cancer; (c) written in English; (d) published in peer-reviewed journals.@*RESULTS@#Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Counseling with physical activity intervention, behavioral training to reduce fatigue, and multi-disciplinary rehabilitation programs were found to be effective.@*CONCLUSION@#Interventions adopting a multidisciplinary approach were effective for RTW in cancer patients. This literature review emphasizes the need for more tailored interventions based on survivors' needs and characteristics in the RTW field.
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PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among hope, self-care agency and quality of life of female oncology patients with lymphedema. METHODS: From May 2014 to April 2016, questionnaire responses of 102 patients diagnosed with secondary lymphedema were collected. The data of 100 patients were analysed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 program. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant correlation between hope and self-care agency. Self-care agency increased when participants had higher hope (r=.44, p < .001). Moreover, participants with higher Physical Component Summary (PCS) scores also had higher Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores (r=.77, p < .001). CONCLUSION: Educational programs and organized support for improving hope and PCS are needed to increase self-care agency and MCS of female cancer patients with secondary lymphedema.
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Female , Humans , Hope , Lymphedema , Quality of Life , Self CareABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study attempted to examine those who experienced working after breast cancer diagnosis or job retention after timeoff or resignation. METHODS: Data collection and analysis were conducted using the biggest community website which contains articles written and discussed by breast cancer survivors. We used semantic network analysis to identify context of various keywords from collected 1,186 articles. After refining, we analyzed 212 keywords. Data were analyzed using two methodological approaches, ‘network analysis and data visualization’ (NodeXl & PFnet). RESULTS: As a result, 6 groups were classified; ‘conflict between breast cancer and job’, ‘difficulty of working and treatment parallel’, ‘breast cancer management while working’, ‘busy and hard life but showing gratitude’, ‘my body needs’, and ‘my heart needs’. We found that even though they had difficulties of working and treatment at the same time, they were thankful for their life. and they also reprogrammed their mind for more positive thinking through exercise for the health management and establishing a good eating habit. CONCLUSION: This paper will argue that we need to identify the experiences of cancer survivors. This allows the growth of the improvement working environment, the direction of policy, and the concern and understanding of nurses to needs of breast canner patients was definitely needed.
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Humans , Breast Neoplasms , Breast , Data Collection , Diagnosis , Eating , Heart , Return to Work , Semantics , Survivors , ThinkingABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge structure of cancer survivors. METHODS: For data, 1099 articles were collected, with 365 keywords as a Noun phrase extracted from the articles and standardized for analyzing. Co-occurrence matrix were generated via a cosine similarity measure, and then the network analysis and visualization using PFNet and NodeXL were applied to visualize intellectual interchanges among keywords. RESULTS: According to the result of the content analysis and the cluster analysis of author keywords from cancer survivors articles, keywords such as 'quality of life', 'breast neoplasms', 'cancer survivors', 'neoplasms', 'exercise' had a high degree centrality. The 9 most important research topics concerning cancer survivors were 'cancer-related symptoms and nursing', 'cancer treatment-related issues', 'late effects', 'psychosocial issues', 'healthy living managements', 'social supports', 'palliative cares', 'research methodology', and 'research participants'. CONCLUSION: Through this study, the knowledge structure of cancer survivors was identified. The 9 topics identified in this study can provide useful research direction for the development of nursing in cancer survivor research areas. The Network analysis used in this study will be useful for identifying the knowledge structure and identifying general views and current cancer survivor research trends.
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Humans , Cluster Analysis , Databases, Factual , Models, Nursing , Neoplasms/pathology , Palliative Care , Qualitative Research , Quality of Life , Social Support , Survivors/psychologyABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify how political interest, efficacy and media usage influence political participation in hospital nurses. METHODS: Participants were 286 nurses, who were informed of the study purpose and agreed to participate. Data were collected during November and December, 2012 using a questionnaire on political interest, political efficacy, media usage and political participation. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe's test, Pearson Correlation Coefficients, and Multiple Stepwise Regression. RESULTS: Scores for political participation and political interest was average. The score for political efficacy was higher than average. Political participation was significantly different by education level, job career, position, and intention to vote in the election for the 18th President. Political participation had a moderate positive correlation with political interest (r=.50, p<.001), political efficacy (r=.32, p<.001) and media usage (r=.14, p=.022). Political interest (beta=.43) was the factor most influential on political participation, explaining 25% of the variance. A total of 32% of political participation was explained by political interest, political efficacy, and TV news or SNS for media use. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that it is necessary to develop strategies to promote political interest and political efficacy for hospital nurses to improve political participation.