Sherborne, V. orcid.org/0000-0003-1106-765X, Tod, A. orcid.org/0000-0001-6336-3747 and Taylor, B. (2024) Mesothelioma: exploring psychological effects on veterans and their family caregivers. Cancer Nursing Practice, 23 (1). ISSN 1475-4266
Abstract
Background:
In the UK, around one in eight adults aged over 65 years is a veteran of the UK armed forces. There is little research into the experiences of veterans with mesothelioma and their family caregivers.
Aim:
To explore the psychological effects of mesothelioma on UK veterans and their family caregivers from the caregivers’ perspective.
Method:
Purposive sampling was used to recruit six participants to this qualitative interview study. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Findings:
There was an underlying influence of the military background on several facets of caregivers’ and veterans’ experiences. Veterans and caregivers made efforts to ‘just keep on going’. Psychological benefits were derived from having a stoic outlook, retaining one’s sense of humour, being goal-oriented and putting others first. Holding to high military standards such as loyalty led to broken trust and anger. Straightforward ‘need to know’ communication is a priority in the armed forces and this also influenced caregivers’ and veterans’ experiences.
Conclusion:
It is important that nurses are aware of the specific cultural factors present in armed forces veterans and their caregivers so that they can assess and address their needs adequately.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 RCN Publishing Company Limited. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0) (see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits others to copy and redistribute in any medium or format, remix, transform and build on this work, even commercially, provided appropriate credit is given and any changes made indicated. |
Keywords: | cancer; carers; families; mesothelioma; patient experience; patient psychology; patients; professional |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > Health Sciences School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 15 Feb 2024 15:58 |
Last Modified: | 15 Feb 2024 15:58 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | RCN Publishing Ltd. |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.7748/cnp.2023.e1831 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:208904 |