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Exploring the social stressors and resources of husbands of women diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in their role as primary caregivers in Kumasi, Ghana

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Abstract

Purpose

We aimed to explore the experiences of husbands of women diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, highlighting their stressors and the resources they rely on to cope, in Kumasi, Ghana.

Method

An exploratory descriptive qualitative research design was adopted. Fifteen in-depth interviews with participants were conducted. After a participant’s written consent, we audio-recorded the interview sessions and transcribed them verbatim. We managed and analysed the data manually.

Result

The experiences of husbands as primary caregivers of their wives diagnosed with advanced breast cancer have been broadly categorized under two main themes: stressors and resources. The analyses revealed that the burdens associated with the husband’s primary caregiving roles threatened the marriage, their relationships with others, work, and finances. Regardless of the stressors, participants drew on a range of resources such as acceptance, marital obligation and commitment to marital vows, social support, and spirituality to cope.

Conclusion

The study is the first of our knowledge to explore the experiences of husbands acting as primary caregivers of their wives who are diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in Ghana. It revealed that they rely on specific resources to cope with the burdens associated with their role. Policies and programs aiming at assisting women diagnosed with advanced breast cancer to manage and cope with the disease should include the partners of the married ones by designing programs that help the husbands to understand the situation and adequately provide the care that promotes the quality of life of the husband, wife, and the family.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nursing, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Adwoa Bemah Boamah Mensah, Bakinam Adamu, Veronica Millicent Dzomeku, Pascal Agbadi, Grace Kusi & Felix Apiribu

  2. Nursing Training College-Techiman Krobo, Techiman, Ghana

    Bakinam Adamu

  3. Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana

    Kofi Boamah Mensah

  4. Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Kofi Boamah Mensah

  5. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana

    Grace Kusi

Authors
  1. Adwoa Bemah Boamah Mensah
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  2. Bakinam Adamu
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  3. Kofi Boamah Mensah
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  4. Veronica Millicent Dzomeku
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  5. Pascal Agbadi
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  6. Grace Kusi
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  7. Felix Apiribu
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Contributions

Adwoa Bemah Boamah Mensah: Conceptualization; methodology; formal analysis; supervision; writing, original draft preparation; writing, review and editing; and approval of manuscript for publication.

Bakinam Adamu: Conceptualization, methodology; collected data and formal analysis; writing, review and editing; and approval of manuscript for publication.

Pascal Agbadi: Writing, original draft preparation; writing, review and editing; and approval of manuscript for publication.

Kofi Boamah Mensah, Veronica Millicent Dzomeku, Felix Apiribu, Grace Kusi: Validation of formal analysis; writing, review and editing; and approval of manuscript for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adwoa Bemah Boamah Mensah.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethics approval

This study was conducted in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (CHRPE/AP/046/19), and KATH gave the institutional approval (RD/CR18/250).

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Not applicable.

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Boamah Mensah, A.B., Adamu, B., Mensah, K.B. et al. Exploring the social stressors and resources of husbands of women diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in their role as primary caregivers in Kumasi, Ghana. Support Care Cancer 29, 2335–2345 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05716-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05716-2

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