title: Needs of lay caregivers of bone marrow transplant patients in Turkey: a multicenter study.
abstract: The purpose of this research was to identify the needs of lay caregivers of bone marrow transplant (BMT) patients throughout the BMT trajectory. The sample consisted of 58 lay caregivers of BMT patients (5 of which were inpatients) from the 4 BMT units in Ankara, Turkey. Data were collected through a demographic data form and the Psychological and Social Needs Scale. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 10.0 for Windows. Among the descriptive statistics, frequencies and percentages were used to define the characteristics of lay caregivers and responses related to information. Mean values, standard deviations, and the Pearson correlation coefficients were also calculated for the results of the subscales. Most of the lay caregivers were spouses. The rest were other family members: brother/sister, mother, son/daughter, or father. Only one lay caregiver was a friend. The most common type of BMT was autologous. Most of the surveys were completed by the lay caregivers whose patients had been out of the hospital for 100+ days after BMT. The lay caregivers were educated on the BMT process by various sources, and 67.24% of them expressed satisfaction with the information that they were given. A majority of them preferred face-to-face communication with a healthcare professional. The categories of the information provided were diagnosis and treatment, homecare after discharge, follow-ups and laboratory tests, and nutrition. They indicated a need for more information, particularly regarding homecare after discharge and diagnosis. Fear was the highest scoring psychological needs/problems of lay caregivers, whereas leisure activity deficit was highest among the social needs/problems. The information gathered from this study led us to reevaluate our healthcare services for both patients and lay caregivers to improve physical, psychological, and social aspects of the nursing care as a whole.
authors.affiliation: Gölcük Naval Hospital, Gölcük, Kocaeli, Turkey. ozlemaslan@hotmail.com
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kav
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meral
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tekin
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yesil
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bulut
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anaboifo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dover
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yazar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000451:nursing*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003142:Communication; D005192:Family Health; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011379:Prognosis; D012944:Social Support; D014421:Turkey