title: Significant others' lived experiences following a lung cancer trajectory: from diagnosis through and after the death of a family member.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to illuminate the meanings of significant others' lived experiences of their situation from diagnosis through and after the death of a family member as a consequence of inoperable lung cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data was collected through narrative interviews from eleven significant others and interpreted using a phenomenological hermeneutic approach. KEYRESULTS: Four themes emerged: being unbalanced, being transitional, being cared for, and moving forward.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The significant others' experiences can be viewed as a transition process, beginning with a sense of dislocation in life and continuing through struggling, enduring and conquering the consequences of the altered life situation until finally approaching a point characterized by a sense of stability. Different strategies of adjustment and adaptation to the new living conditions are considered. Furthermore, the results indicate the need to develop a framework for family-centered health care in order to enhance the wellbeing for the significant others both in the anticipatory grief phase and during the bereavement phase.
authors.affiliation: Umeå University, Department of Nursing, Sweden.
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pusa
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sundin
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001601:Bereavement; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011788:Quality of Life; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology