Spiritual issues of family members in a pancreatic cancer chat room.
OBJECTIVE
To describe spiritual issues addressed by users of a pancreatic cancer informational Web site.


METHODS
Qualitative, descriptive.


METHODS
The patient and family chat room of Johns Hopkins Hospital's pancreatic cancer Web site.


METHODS
600 postings on the pancreatic cancer Web site.


METHODS
Identification of categories and themes in Web postings using the constant comparison method of content analysis.


METHODS
Spirituality, relationship of the person posting a message (poster) to the person with cancer.


RESULTS
Relationship of the poster to the person with pancreatic cancer was explicit in 68% (n = 410) of the 600 postings, and 83% of those 410 postings indicated that the poster was a family member. Issues of spirituality appeared in 19% (n = 114) of the 600 postings and addressed four themes: spiritual convergence, reframing suffering, hope, and acceptance of the power of God and eternal life. Six percent of postings were by family members reporting on the death of their loved ones, suggesting that the site also served a bereavement function.


CONCLUSIONS
Family members of patients with pancreatic cancer sought and received spiritual comfort in a variety of forms in an Internet-based cancer chat room.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurse developers of cancer information Web sites should periodically assess how the sites are being used and apply the information to the refinement of the sites to better meet user needs. Further study is needed to develop and evaluate cancer Web sites as an evolving medium for providing spiritual support to family members of patients with life-threatening forms of cancer.
Nolan
Marie T
MT
School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. mnolan@son.jhmi.edu
Hodgin
Mary B
MB
Olsen
Sharon J
SJ
Coleman
JoAnn
J
Sauter
Pat K
PK
Baker
Deborah
D
Stanfield
Cathy
C
Emerling
Amy
A
Hruban
Ralph H
RH
D001293:Attitude to Death; D017281:Cost of Illness; D029221:Faith Healing; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D029181:Spirituality; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology