I am pleased to share the Abstract of the doctoral dissertation of Mary Beth O'Brien, Ph.D., who recently completed research regarding the wife caregiver to the prostate cancer patient.
Abstract
Wife Caregiver
Experiences in the Prostate Cancer Patient at Home
by
Mary
Elizabeth O’Brien
MSN,
Catholic University, 1982
BSN,
Alderson-Broaddus College, 1974
Dissertation
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of
the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor
of Philosophy
Health
Services
Walden
University
August
2014
The purpose of this qualitative case
study was to explore the experiences of wife caregivers of patients diagnosed
with prostate cancer cared for in the home rather than in a medical facility.
The focus was on understanding their experiences using Lawton’s Appraisal of
Caregiving Scale interview schedule and one open-ended question. Guided by
systems theory and stress theory, this study examined the caregiving demands,
whether these demands reduced the quality of life for the wives, and whether
caregivers have sufficient information to care for their husbands at home.
Twenty wife caregivers were asked to describe their specific personal experiences.
The data sources analyzed were the demographic matrix, the interview schedule
using the Likert scale, and the one open-ended question. Findings revealed that
the wife caregivers and their husbands with older age, more education, or more
years of marriage were less burdened by the demands of caregiving, and this
responsibility did not appear to affect their quality of life. However, the
wives acknowledged needing more information to provide adequate care for the
husbands when at home. The implications for social change for health care
professionals in understanding the wives’ caregiving experiences might reveal a
new dimension in caregiving and contribute to the social change dynamic of care
for both the prostate cancer patient and his caregiver.
