Coping strategies employed by informal carers of terminally ill cancer patients

Abstract

A qualitative study using data obtained from 55 interactions with 21 families caring for a member who had terminal cancer revealed three different strategies which carers use to deal with their situation. These strategies are: denial, normalizing and togetherness. Carers are not fixed in one particular behaviour pattern but can move within and between strategies. Denial is the most destructive of the strategies because, although in the short term it enables carers to cope with the situation, eventually failure to face reality results in increased stress and can be a cause of estrangement in families. Normalizing the situation by attempting to live life in as ordinary a way as possible is a valuable means of coping because it makes the prospect of dying and death seem less threatening. However, the most positive coping strategy is seen when couples work through the situation together. Most people did not achieve such complete togetherness but the case of a man and woman who did is cited and the reasons why they were able to form a partnership to deal with her dying are discussed. The value of professional help and support and the need for individual assessment of each family are considered.