Abstract:

Objective To explore the experience of caring for breast cancer patients in patients’ spouses. Methods Semi-structured interview was conducted in 13 spouses of breast cancer patients. Content analysis was used to analyze the interview data. Results Five themes emerged from the data：helplessness of long-term care（being tired of rushing between the hospital and home,being helpless to care for patients by themselves,being powerless to change the current situation,and being compromised with the reality）,difficulty in taking on the care burden（limited confidence in caring,low ability in caring,and little knowledge in caring）,role disorders （weakened role in working,strengthened role in caring）,lack of social support（low level of social support and little utili-zation）,and post-traumatic growth（strengthened imitate relationship,parent-child relationship,and personal growth）. Conclusion Spouses who are the special caregiver of breast cancer patients are disturbed by physical,mental,social and other issues at different stages. The health care team should pay more attention to the spouse’s care experience and provide assistances according to their needs to encourage the couples to adapt to life after cancer as soon as possible.

Key words: Breast Neoplasms, Caregivers, Spouses, Qualitative Research