title: Participation of relatives in the care of cancer patients.
abstract: This study aims to find out how important it is for relatives to take part in the care of cancer patients and to see to what extent they actually do take part. Participation is defined as consisting of concrete care activities, emotional support and participation in decision-making concerning the patient's care. The sample comprised 168 relatives of cancer patients from oncology wards all over Finland. Data were collected with a questionnaire specifically developed for this study. Nonparametric tests were used for statistical analyses. The results showed that the most important aspect of relatives' participation was supporting the patient emotionally; providing concrete care and participation in decision-making were both considered less important. Over 80% of the relatives said they gave a considerable amount of support to the patient. Most relatives said that they visited the patient in hospital, talked to the patient about their concerns and were near them whenever they felt they needed that. On the other hand, relatives did not take part in discussions about care, nor were they informed about such a possibility.
authors.affiliation: University of Turku, Department of Nursing, 20014 University of Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lauri