Supportive care for dual caregivers who care for their partner with cancer and their young children

Article

ANN-YI, Sujin | MILBURY, Kathrin | JONES, Morgan | NECROTO, Victoria | WHISENANT, Meagan | LI, Yisheng | BRUERA, Eduardo

PURPOSE: Advanced cancer patients and their spouses who parent minor children report parenting concerns and increased psychological distress. This single-arm trial examined the feasibility and initial evidence for efficacy of a novel parent support program. METHODS: Patients with a metastatic solid malignancy and their spouses completed self-reported assessments of psychological distress (HADS), parenting concerns (PCQ) and efficacy (CaPSE) at baseline. Both patients and spouses jointly attended the first two sessions addressing illness communication and family routines. Spouses individually attended two additional sessions focusing on caregiver support and death preparedness. All four sessions were delivered via videoconference by a licensed psychological counselor. Dyads completed program evaluations and were reassessed 6- and 12-weeks post intervention. RESULTS: With a consent rate of 61%, 10 patients (50% female; 90% non-Hispanic White; mean age=42 years) and their spouses (50% female; 70% non-Hispanic White; mean age=42 years) completed the assessments. All patients and 90% of spouses attended all intervention sessions and evaluated the program favorably. Paired t-tests revealed significant improvements in patients' parenting concerns at the 6-week (P=.003) and parenting efficacy at the 6-week (P=.03) and 12-week (P=.03) follow-ups. For spouses, we found significant improvements for parenting efficacy (P<.001) and depressive symptoms (P=.04) at 6-week and parenting concerns at both 6-week (P=.006) and 12-week (P=.001) follow-ups. CONCLUSIONS: The initial testing of our parenting intervention yielded promising results regarding feasibility and an initial signal of intervention efficacy. Thus, a randomized controlled trial for further testing is warranted.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.07.012

Voir la revue «JOURNAL OF PAIN AND SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT, 66»

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