Families experience an unmet need of information and support, which implies that healthcare professionals may want to acknowledge and include the family already at the time of diagnosis in order to help them endure and cope with the distressing experience and thus increase their wellbeing.

Currently, there are few studies which examine targeted family-focused support when a family member is diagnosed with breast cancer. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore families’ experiences of participating in a family nursing intervention identified as Brief Family Health Conversations (BFamHC) following the diagnosis of breast cancer. Semi-structured family interviews were conducted with nine families (including 29 family members) 2 weeks following the family-focused intervention of three sessions of BFamHC. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Families reported the BFamHC as positive and as a unique kind of family health conversation, one that afforded them the opportunity to communicate and share their experiences as a family group. A family conversation, even one as time-limited as BFamHC, offered a sense of relational sharing and togetherness, thus preventing feelings of isolation and vulnerability. Therapeutic family-focused conversations, such as BFamHC, hold promise as a useful family nursing intervention following the diagnosis of breast cancer.

This study aimed at exploring how women from Iraq and the former Yugoslavia, diagnosed with breast cancer and living in Sweden, experience their everyday life during radiation therapy. A qualitative research design was used comprising interviews with ten women, five originating from Iraq and five from the former Yugoslavia. Striving to survive, the women experienced their everyday life during radiation therapy as extremely challenging. This experience can be placed into three categories: strategies for survival, keeping up appearances and staying in control. Because of these specific challenges, immigrant women may need additional information and guidance in conjunction with the diagnosis, which may enable them to identify possible sources of support from those closest to them. Also, greater attention should focus on acknowledging the woman behind the diagnosis, regardless of her origin, to develop an individualised support programme to help her cope with everyday life during radiation therapy.

To everyone who has believed in me Vi människor är sociala varelser. Vi kommer till denna värld som ett resultat av andras handlingar. För vår överlevnad är vi ömsesidigt beroende av varandra. Vare sig vi vill eller inte finns det inte en enda stund i livet då vi inte drar nytta av sådant som andra har gjort eller gör. Det är därför knappast förvånande att det mesta av vår lycka uppstår i relationer med andra. Inte heller är det anmärkningsvärt om vår största glädje uppstår när vi motiveras av omsorg om andra. Men det är mera än så. Allt tyder på att altruistiska handlingar inte bara skapar lycka, utan att de också minskar vår upplevelse av lidande. Vårt beteende mot andra blir automatiskt positivt när vi handlar av omsorg mot dem. Det är för att vi inte har plats för några misstankar när hjärtat är fyllt av kärlek. Det är som en inre dörr öppnas och låter oss komma ut. ABSTRACTThis thesis focuses on women diagnosed with breast cancer and their family members. Since a breast cancer diagnosis and its subsequent treatment are a strenuous experience not only for the woman afflicted but also for her family members, this thesis aimed to explore the experiences of everyday life during radiation therapy from the perspectives of the woman with breast cancer and her family, as well as exploring families' experiences of participating in short family health conversations (SFamHC). All included studies were interview studies (Papers I, II, III & IV), where 30 women (20 in Paper I and 10 in Paper II) with breast cancer, 19 family members including the women with breast cancer (Paper III) and 9 families (Paper IV) were interviewed. The data from the interviews was analysed using qualitative content analysis (Papers I & II), a hermeneutical phenomenological method (Paper III) and thematic analysis (Paper IV).The women's experiences of breathing adapted radiation therapy (BART) (Paper I) were identified in an overall theme, The breath of life, as the women experienced the breathing as a way to influence their treatment and thus their survival. The overall theme could be divided into one main category: Participating in one's treatment, for good or ill, with four subcategories: Knowing one has done something good, Getting an extra bonushealthwise, The experience of being in control and Being in a hightechnology environment.Women born in Iraq and the former Yugoslavia, diagnosed with breast cancer and living in Sweden, experienced their everyday life during radiation therapy as a narrow and challenging treatment road to survival (Paper II). Their experiences were structured into three categories: Strategies for survival, Keeping up appearances and Staying in control. More focus should be on acknowledging the woman behind the diagnosis, regardless of her origin, in order to 10 develop individualised support programmes to help women cope with everyday life during radiation therapy.The families' lived experience when a family member is diagnosed with breast cancer (Paper III) was described as a challenging endeavour to regain an or...