Understanding Dying Concerns in Parents With Advanced Cancer With Dependent Children for Their Coparent

Abstract

Parents with advanced cancer and their dependent children experience high psychological distress, decreased quality of life, and decreased family functioning due to cancer-related concerns. Dying concerns are defined as fluctuating thoughts or feelings that are conscious or unconscious about an anticipated and approaching death that is attributed to a palliative/terminal diagnosis. This study used Gadamer's phenomenological approach to gain a shared understanding of the perspectives of the parents with advanced cancer about dying concerns, family life before and after advanced cancer diagnosis, and family resources to manage the crisis of advanced cancer for the coparent. The sample consisted of 4 patients from a Midwestern cancer hospital. Data were collected through 2 virtual semistructured interviews and were qualitatively analyzed using the hermeneutic rule and the theoretical concepts from McCubbin and McCubbin's Family Resiliency Model. Four major themes emerged: “Uncertainty in End-of-Life Decisions,” “Effectless Communication,” “Parental Skepticism,” and “Psychological Well-being.” The results showed that parents with advanced cancer have concerns for their coparent outside their parental role. Understanding dying concerns from all family members may increase nurse-initiated communication to improve family outcomes.

Strategies to Recruit Adults with Advanced Cancer and Dependent Children

“…Parents with an advanced cancer diagnosis with dependents have unmet needs, yet research approaches are underdeveloped. In this editorial, we share lessons learned in studying this population, informed by two of our prior studies (Caparso & Benkert, 2021;Caparso et al, 2023). We outline three challenges to recruit eligible adults with advanced cancer who are also parents to children and offer recommendations to guide future protocols and study procedures.…”