Support for Spouses of Prostate Cancer Needed

Prostate cancer patients are not the only ones who need treatment. Their caretakers also have emotional needs. In a recent press release, researchers discussed the importance of making sure that prostate cancer caregivers are also given emotional support and treatment.

Researcher at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that spouses of prostate cancer patients have suffered with a myriad of unmet emotional needs. Their role in helping in the treatment and recovery process should not be overlooked. As a result, spouses may even suffer from depression.

Few spouses who care for their spouses who are afflicted with prostate cancer believe that they are adequately prepared for their role and the many demands place on them.

This study revealed that the spouses often feel hopeless and not be confident of the treatment that their husbands are receiving. This impacts their ability to care for their spouses.

By providing emotional counseling and support, spouses caretaking prostate cancer patients are not as hopeless, are more confident in the treatment that is being administered, and have better communication with their spouses.

While the interventions did not directly help prostate cancer patients, by improving the life of their spouses, indirect help was provided.

Prostate cancer patients have many avenues available to obtain support. They can find support from medical personnel, including doctors and nurses, support groups, and cancer treatment centers. These same resources have not been available for their spouse.

"We need to provide more care and concern to the family caregiver of cancer patients. They have a vital role. We can no longer leave them in the waiting room or on the sidelines," says lead study author Laurel Northouse, Ph.D., R.N., co-director of the Socio-Behavioral Program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center and Mary Lou Willard French Professor of Nursing at the U-M School of Nursing.

In conducting this study, researchers at the University of Michigan interviewed 235 prostate cancer patients and their spouses. The participants answered questions that addressed their emotional and physical health at several different intervals.

Researchers measured the emotional and physical health when prostate cancer treatment was first begun, four months later, eight months later, and again one year after treatment had begun.

Couples were randomly assigned to different groups. One group received the standard care that prostate patients typically receive, without any other interventions. The other group received family intervention in additional to prostate cancer treatment.

Researchers determined that the couples that had received additional intervention fared much better than those who did not receive any additional help. Couples receiving other forms of emotional support had better communication, better quality of life, and were more confident of their prostate cancer treatment.

The National Cancer Institute funded this study. The complete results of this study have been published in the journal Cancer.

Source:
http://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/535210/