Men's experiences of coping with their wives' breast cancer involved focusing on the cancer and treatment and focusing on family to keep life going
QUESTION: What were the experiences of men as individuals, partners, and fathers when their wives had chemotherapy for breast cancer?
Design
Qualitative naturalistic inquiry.
Setting
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Participants
10 English speaking, white male partners (age range 39–58 y) of women who had chemotherapy for breast cancer in the previous 2 years and had ≥1 child living at home were identified through purposive sampling.
Methods
Men participated in individual, semi-structured interviews of 1–2 hours, which were conducted by male nurses. Interviews focused on men's perceptions of their experience and their family's experience of coping with breast cancer. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed, and analysed using the constant comparative method.
Main findings
Men's coping was characterised by 2 major themes: focusing on their wives' illness and care and focusing on the family to keep life going. 9 subthemes were identified, each of which predominantly reflected one of the 2 major themes, although most reflected both themes to some extent. Focusing on a wife's illness and care was reflected in men's efforts to understand, assist with decision making, get …
