Managing an altered social context-Patients experiences of staying away from home while undergoing proton beam therapy.
Marie-Louise Möllerberg, Ulrica Langegård, Emma Ohlsson-Nevo and 4 others
PMID 32587735WHAT IT FOUND
Patients with brain tumours staying away for proton beam therapy described daily family contact and peer affinity as calming.
Pre-treatment planning and new routines were described as helping maintain family roles, while separation was linked to guilt and worry.
Key findings
01Participants described making adjustments to an altered social context to cope with worries, family demands at home, and a new hotel environment.
02Daily family contact and new routines, including Skype conversations and doing homework with children, were described as helping participants feel included and maintain normality.
03Participants described finding relief in affinity with fellow patients, who could share experiences and give advice on managing symptoms, while hotel staff also helped them connect.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was small and mostly younger than 65, highly educated, married or living with children, so it may not represent all patients with brain tumours. Patients who struggled most with staying away may have refused to participate, so the findings may miss harder experiences. The interviews were originally collected for a symptom management study, not primarily for this topic, so the data may be limited. Participants were predominantly Swedish, and cultural perspectives were not addressed, so transferability to other countries is uncertain. This is a qualitative study, so it describes experiences and does not test whether any intervention helps.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The Swedish Cancer society funded the study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that family contact, peer support, or pre-treatment planning improve treatment outcomes. The study explored experiences in 19 patients and did not test an intervention.