Surviving Survival
Wednesday, November 27, 2013 - 15:50
in Psychology & Sociology
In the largest study of its kind, researchers led by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing have investigated the caregivers of 186 mothers to childhood brain tumor survivors aged 14-40 whose care needs last long into adulthood. They based their research on a model containing factors central to nursing practice, namely the caregiver, the survivor, and the family. They discovered that a complex interaction among components of the model, the health of the caregivers, the demands experienced by the caregiver, the caregiver's perceptions about the health of the survivor, and the family's support interact to explain how the caregiver assesses herself in her role. The study was recently published in Health Psychology.