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When they don't die: Prognosis ambiguity, role conflict and emotion work in cancer caregiving

Informal carers of cancer patients have high rates of burden, stress, anxiety and unmet needs; yet, some describe caregiving as fulfilling. Building on the work of Thomas and colleagues, this study takes a sociology of emotions approach to understanding variations in carers of cancer patients' emotional experiences, using interview data with 32 carers of a spouse with cancer. Analysis indicates that a clearly terminal (negative) prognosis facilitates clear priorities, unambiguous emotion management and improved social bonds. A more ambiguous (positive) prognosis, that includes a greater chance of survival, fosters role conflict, clashing feeling rules and ongoing guilt within spousal carers. This study highlights the importance of a prognosis to emotion management, underscoring a phenomenon that is likely to grow as survival rates continue to improve and explaining some of the variation in carers' experiences.

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Additional Titles
Journal of Sociology

Key Information

Type of Reference
Jour
ISBN/ISSN
1440-7833
Resource Database
Web of science - exported 12/7/2016
Publication Year
2015
Issue Number
4
Volume Number
51
Start Page
857-871