title: Active consideration: conceptualizing patient-provided support for spouse caregivers in the context of prostate cancer.
abstract: In this study, the authors examine the under-investigated topic of patient-provided support for spouse caregivers. Thirty-four men with prostate cancer and their female partners were interviewed separately three times: before the man's radical prostatectomy, 8 to 10 weeks postsurgery, and 1 year postsurgery. The core category of active consideration encompassed 4 dimensions: easing spousal burden, keeping us up, maintaining connection, and considering spouse. Patient-provided support entails two overlapping tasks: minimizing the practical and emotional impact of the illness and tending to the caregiver's social-emotional needs. A theory expounding on the double bind of being both a patient and an agent in light of masculine socialization practices is articulated and brought to bear on the phenomenon of patient-provided support.
authors.affiliation: York University.
authors.forename: Karen D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Fergus
authors.forename: Ross E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: Margaret I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Fitch
authors.forename: Manon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Labrecque
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Phillips
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000451:nursing; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery; D012944:Social Support