Anhörigas upplevelse av att vårda närstående med cancer: En litteraturöversikt

Sammanfattning: Background: When a relative receives a cancer diagnosis the family caregivers are affected as well. Family caregivers are at high risk of developing caregiver burden since they´re exposed to stressful situations when they receive a greater responsibility towards their relative and other parts of life. The support the family caregivers receive from the health care and other social engagements is important for the caregivers wellbeing.  Aim: To describe how family caregivers experience their situation as caregivers to a relative with cancer and what kind of support they're in need of. Method: Literature review with qualitative articles. The quality of the articles was analyzed with a frame with five steps.   Results:  Three main themes with sub themes emerged. Family caregivers of relatives with cancer may experience an increased responsibility for their relative, the family and the household which can lead to feelings of inadequacy in their role as caregivers. Moreover, the caregivers may experience expectations from the health care and the relative to take on responsibilities. The caregivers also experience changes in their relationship to their relative and in relation to their own identity. They may experience the changes as stressful and be worried.  Family caregivers experience it to be important with social support from family, close relatives and people in similar situations. They wish for more support and information from the health care. Conclusion: The family caregivers describe caregiver burden in relation to their experiences of being overlooked and being in lack of social support and support from the health care. More research is needed to deepen the knowledge in the area. The themes from the study and previous research needs to be implemented in health care.  Keywords: Cancer, experiences, caregiver burden, support, caring science, literature review