Living Experiences of Male Spouses of Patients with Metastatic Cancer in Taiwan

Abstract

Background: Cancer is the leading cause of death in Taiwan. Spouses are generally the main caregivers of affectyed patients but previous studies have seldom investigated the needs of male spouses of patients with metastatic cancer. Purpose: To explore the lived experiences of such male spouses. Methods: A qualitative design using in-depth interviewswasconducted with male spouses of patients with metastatic cancer being treated at the oncology outpatient department in a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan. Results: Nine participants aged 31-78 were interviewed. Content analysis of the interviews revealed five themes: suffering and struggling, difficulty in focusing on communication and interaction, shouldering responsibility, cherishing the love between husband and wife, and enabling each other to live better. This study demonstrated how male spousse experienced physical and psychological suffering when their wives suffered from metastatic cancer. They had to bear the pain of their wife's suffering, and also had to shoulder the responsibility for everything. All their efforts were put towards enabling each other to live a better life. They cherished the rest of the time they could spend with their wives, even though they had to live a hard life. As the male spouses of patients with metastatic cancer, the participants exhibited both the masculinity of men and the ability to express care and tenderness. Conclusions: The results showed that male spouses need more attention in terms of communication and bearing with suffering. Health care professionals should more actively understand the needs and provide assistance when facing the male spouse of patients with cancer, so as make sure that they possess the ability to take care of their wives. Health care professionals should also assist and properly act as a bridge of communication between husbands and wives.

Liminality as a Conceptual Frame for Understanding the Family Caregiving Rite of Passage: An Integrative Review

“…Frankowska and Wiechula () found that study participants hesitated to disclose their caregiving role to others, because metaphorically this indicated they had “lost a partner.” By contrast, caregivers who identified themselves as partners, and as a couple, in both their private lives and with health care professionals, were strengthened by this bond and developed a more positive self‐concept (Donnelly, ; Galvin et al, ; Greenwood, Mackenzie, Wilson, & Cloud, ; Harrow et al, ; Liedstrom, Isaksson, & Ahlstrom, ; Lin, Lin, Lee, & Lin, ; Sadala, Stolf, Bocchi, & Bicudo, ).…”

“…The theme of uncertainty was present in almost every report, as caregivers associated this time with feeling they had no clear future and being unable to plan ahead (Adams, ; Burman, ; Frankowska & Wiechula, ; Galvin et al, ; Huang & Peng, ; Lin et al, ; Murray et al, ; Plank et al, ; Stone & Jones, ). This uncertainty stemmed from their perceptions of the care recipient's health status, including the illness trajectory as well as prognosis (e.g., risk of death).…”

“…During this time, there was grief about the loss of their previous life and guilt over attempts to take care of themselves (Donnelly, ; Galvin et al, ). Some care recipients' suffering and symptomatology added to their caregivers' suffering (Lin et al, ; Plank et al, ). A participant described a difficult care recipient: “They explained to me that the damage to the brain… was making him do these things… he was so nasty he had me in tears every day” (Bulley et al, ).…”

“…These included the influence of culture on the expression of suffering in the caregiver‐care recipient dyad (Donnelly, ; Lin et al, ; Navab et al, ; Valimaki et al, ). Despite their suffering, an altruistic filial commitment was ingrained in some caregivers whose sense of obligation that stemmed from their culturally‐rooted belief systems (Donnelly, ; Donorfio & Kellett, ; Lin et al, ; Navab et al, ; Van Pelt et al, ). Other sources of variation in caregivers' stress and coping included care recipients' degree of incapacitation due to chronic illness or disability, caregivers' amount of prior caregiving experience, and the availability and utilization of personal and professional support (Greenwood et al, ).…”

“…As caregivers passed through the stages of assuming a new identity and social role, they traversed boundaries, “moving backwards and forwards” until they were settled into a “new normal” (Adams, ; Brown & Powell‐Cope, ; Bulley et al, ; Burman, ; Donorfio & Kellett, ; Harrow et al, ; Lin et al, ; Navab et al, ; Rydstrom et al, ; Sadala et al, ). Caregivers integrated the past and present in order to move forward in spite of an unpredictable illness trajectory.…”