title: Engaging hope: the experiences of male spouses of women with breast cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the hope experience of male spouses of women with breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thorne's qualitative interpretive descriptive approach was used.
  
  
  METHODS
  Homes of participants in two western Canadian provinces.
  
  
  METHODS
  11 male spouses of women with breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  24 open-ended tape-recorded telephone interviews were completed. Data were transcribed and then analyzed used Thorne's approach.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hope.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The participants described their hope as tangible and important to them. Hope was influenced by their partners' hope and courage and gave participants the courage to support their partners. The overarching theme was engaging hope. The participants described their hope as always being there, but with the diagnoses of their partners' breast cancer, they needed to engage their hope. Other themes were finding balance, discovering what works, and focusing on the positives.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The participants emphasized the importance and the positive outcomes associated with hope, such as being able to continue caring for their partner.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The importance of hope in the participants' lives underscores the need to find ways to foster hope in this population. The findings also suggest that the hope experience of men may differ from the experience of women; therefore, strategies to foster hope in this population should be tailored to the male experience.
authors: Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton. wendy.duggleby@ualberta.ca
authors: Wendy
authors: W
authors: Duggleby
authors: Jill
authors: J
authors: Bally
authors: Dan
authors: D
authors: Cooper
authors: Heather
authors: H
authors: Doell
authors: Roanne
authors: R
authors: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D022143:Family Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*