Providing care to cancer patients parenting minor children: A qualitative study on healthcare professionals’ communication practice

IF 3.1 2区医学 Q2 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH Patient Education and Counseling Pub Date : 2025-04-01 Epub Date: 2025-01-13 DOI:10.1016/j.pec.2025.108666

Wiebke Frerichs , Laura Inhestern , Lene Marie Johannsen , Corinna Bergelt

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Abstract

Aim

To explore healthcare professionals’ (HCPs) experiences when communicating about child- and family-related aspects in cancer care and their attitudes about the importance of including these aspects in cancer care.

Methods

We conduced semi-structured interviews with HCPs working in oncology. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using Kuckartz's method for qualitative content analysis.

Results

N = 20 HCPs working in oncology, either inpatient or outpatient setting in the area of Hamburg, Germany participated. N = 7 were nurses, n = 6 psychologists, n = 5 physicians and n = 2 social workers. Results showed that HCPs’ communication about child- and family-related aspects for cancer patients parenting minor children varies widely, influenced by factors such as diagnosis, structural challenges, individual characteristics, or profession. Additionally, their attitudes about how relevant it is to integrate child- and family-related aspects in routine cancer care varies from low relevance (i.e. lower priority, beyond professional role) to high relevance (i.e. palliative cases, children have a right to know).

Conclusion

HCPs’ communication practice and views on the importance of addressing child- and family-related aspects in cancer care vary widely and are shaped by various influences.

Practice implication

Results emphasize the need for training and resources to enhance HCPs communication competencies to provide family-oriented care proactively.

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护理癌症患者养育未成年子女：医护人员沟通实践的质性研究。

目的：探讨医疗保健专业人员（HCPs）在沟通癌症护理中儿童和家庭相关方面的经验，以及他们对将这些方面纳入癌症护理的重要性的态度。方法：我们对在肿瘤学工作的HCPs进行了半结构化访谈。访谈录音，逐字记录，并使用库卡兹的定性内容分析方法进行分析。结果：N = 在德国汉堡地区住院或门诊的20名肿瘤学HCPs参与了研究。N = 护士7人，N = 心理学家6人，N = 医生5人，N = 社工2人。结果显示，在癌症患者养育未成年子女过程中，医护人员对子女和家庭相关方面的沟通存在较大差异，受诊断、结构挑战、个体特征或职业等因素的影响。此外，他们对将儿童和家庭相关方面纳入常规癌症护理的相关性的态度从低相关性（即较低优先级，超出专业角色）到高相关性（即姑息治疗病例，儿童有权知道）不等。结论：HCPs的沟通实践和对癌症护理中解决儿童和家庭相关方面重要性的看法差异很大，并受到各种影响。实践启示：结果强调需要培训和资源来提高医护人员的沟通能力，以主动提供面向家庭的护理。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Patient Education and Counseling 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

5.60

自引率

11.40%

发文量

384

审稿时长

46 days

期刊介绍： Patient Education and Counseling is an interdisciplinary, international journal for patient education and health promotion researchers, managers and clinicians. The journal seeks to explore and elucidate the educational, counseling and communication models in health care. Its aim is to provide a forum for fundamental as well as applied research, and to promote the study of organizational issues involved with the delivery of patient education, counseling, health promotion services and training models in improving communication between providers and patients.