“I always find myself very tired and exhausted”: The physical impact of caring; a descriptive phenomenological study of the experiences of prostate cancer caregivers in Cape Coast, Ghana

• Published in: PloS one 2022-07, Vol.17 (7), p.e0268627-e0268627
• Main Authors: Owoo, Benedicta, Ninnoni, Jerry Paul K, Ampofo, Evelyn Asamoah, Seidu, Abdul-Aziz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Biology and Life Sciences; Body weight loss; Care and treatment; Caregivers; Domestic relations; Fatigue; Health aspects; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Morbidity; Mortality; Nutrition; Pain; Patients; Phenomenology; Prostate cancer; Psychological aspects; Public health; Qualitative research; Sampling techniques; Sleep; Social aspects; Social Sciences; Teaching hospitals; Vital signs; Weight loss
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268627

Prostate cancer is a significant public health burden and a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among men worldwide. This study, therefore, explored how caring affects the physical health of family caregivers of prostate cancer patients. The study adopted a descriptive phenomenological method. Twelve participants were recruited using the purposive sampling technique. A semi-structured face to face, in-depth interviews were conducted with family caregivers of patients living with prostate cancer. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and the data were analysed using Colaizzi's phenomenological approach. The family caregiver's experience with the physical impact associated with caregiving uncovered two significant themes with six sub-themes. "Rest and Sleep" emerged as the first central theme, with sleeplessness, fatigue, pain, and worsening pre-existing conditions as the sub-themes. The second main theme was 'Nutrition' with altered eating patterns and weight loss emerging as sub-themes. The study suggests that family caregivers of patients treated for prostate cancer may struggle with physical consequences associated with the caregiving role, which impacts their physical health. It is of great importance, especially for nurses, to come up with measures to minimise these adverse physical effects on the family caregivers through formal education programmes and training on how to care for these patients at home.