Informal caregivers' experiences of supporting patients with pancreatic cancer: A qualitative study in Greece

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to explore informal caregivers' experiences of supporting family members with pancreatic cancer.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted with individual semi-structured telephone interviews and inductive thematic analysis. Data were collected from 10 informal caregivers in the only cancer hospital in Northern Greece.

Results: The findings of the thematic analysis highlighted three themes, "supportive needs of patients with pancreatic cancer", "supportive needs of informal caregivers" and "evaluation of provided care". In the first theme, four individual subcategories of themes emerged: "psychological support", "managing symptoms and side effects", "daily activities" and "participation in decision-making". The theme "supportive needs of informal caregivers" consists of five sub-themes, "psychological support", "support in care activities", "financial support", "communication with the patient" and "information". Finally, the theme "evaluation of provided care" three sub-categories of topics were reported, "staff evaluation", "process evaluation" and "palliative care".

Conclusion: Pancreatic cancer patients and their informal caregivers experience multiple unmet needs. The health system, lacking an efficient treatment for this type of cancer, should provide a basis for improving the quality of life of these families with targeted support interventions.

Keywords: Family caregivers; Informal caregivers; Needs assessment; Pancreatic cancer; Supportive care; Unmet needs.