Aims: The diversity in caregiver responsibilities when caring for someone with cancer often means that caregivers feel ill-prepared for the caring role. This study aimed to examine male caregivers’ views on intervention mode, timing, and content preferences.
Methods: A mixed methods study where 89 men with a history of caring for a woman with breast cancer completed an online survey which included questions regarding preferences for caregiver training and cancer-related challenges. Thirteen men also participated in a qualitative interview to further explore their views on the development of a caregiver training intervention.
Results: Over one-third of participants (36.8%) expressed a moderate to strong desire for a caregiver training intervention. Most participants expressed a desire for an online intervention/app (71.5%) with all content always available (i.e. not released over time, 54%) so that they could access the intervention around specific milestones (38%) or on demand (31%). The survey results indicated that the most common challenges experienced included fear of recurrence, changes to sexual relationships, worry, knowing what to expect and the impact on everyday life, which was echoed in the interview data. The semi-structured interviews revealed that most caregivers found the emotional elements of caring more challenging than managing physical matters. The interviewees highlighted that intervention content needs to help caregivers know what to expect and address psychological challenges for themselves and the person they care for.
Conclusions: It is evident that male caregivers experience numerous challenges that are primarily psychosocial in nature and impact on both their relationship with the loved one they care for, and their everyday functioning in other areas of their lives. There is encouraging support for an online caregiver training intervention that covers numerous topics and is available for men to tailor how they use the content based on their individual needs.