Newswise, February 1, 2016 – Loved ones of cancer patients are
likely to search for further information about the disease online but less
inclined to seek emotional support from social media forums, according to a
University of Georgia study published recently in the journal Computers,
Informatics, Nursing.
Individuals frequently suffer negative psychological and
emotional effects when the people they care about are diagnosed with cancer. It
is fairly common for loved ones of cancer patients to develop depression or
anxiety disorders as a result of the diagnosis, but there aren’t many studies
focusing specifically on cancer patients’ caregivers and family members, said
the study’s author, Carolyn Lauckner.
“I think sometimes the loved ones and caregivers get forgotten
about,” she said. “And that’s why I wanted to research this population to see
if there are ways that we can better support these individuals.”
Lauckner, an assistant professor in the College of Public
Health’s department of health promotion and behavior, surveyed 191 people whose
loved ones were diagnosed with cancer in the past year or who were currently
acting as caregivers to someone with cancer.
The motivation behind the research was personal for Lauckner.
“I went through a period of time where I had three loved ones
diagnosed within a short amount of time,” she said. “I had these experiences
where I heard about the diagnosis and I would go online to look it up, and then
I would immediately become terrified and freak out about all the stuff I read
online.”
More than three-quarters of participants searched online for
information on a loved one’s disease. Most looked for treatment options, prevention
strategies and risk factors, and prognosis information.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of people who said
that they were looking for prevention information online and detection
information because that shows that not only are they concerned for their loved
one but they’re also concerned about how they themselves can avoid cancer,
which from a public health perspective is great,” Lauckner said.
Respondents were less inclined to view blogs or go online to
hear about others’ cancer experiences. These kinds of sites were linked to
negative emotions for participants, such as fear, sadness and anger.
“A lot of people, especially in the cancer realm, they will
use blogs or discussion posts to vent and to talk about the harsh realities of
living with an illness,” she said.
“And while I think that that is beneficial for both the person
who is writing it and potentially for some people who want an idea of what to
expect, when someone is dealing with the prospect of their loved one having to
go through that experience, it can be extremely distressing.
“You’re only getting a snapshot of what that person’s cancer
experience was like, and you may be seeing the snapshot of the worst day that
they had” on blogs and discussion boards.
The most commonly visited websites were those of charitable
organizations like the American Cancer Society, which were associated with
positive emotions. Lauckner said she found this information encouraging because
it shows that the participants were consulting reliable sources of information
and not being swayed by personal accounts as much.
Lauckner ultimately wants to build on the information gleaned
in this study to determine the most effective use of social media and
technology to distribute cancer prevention and risk reduction messages to the
public.
The study, “The Effects of Viewing and Preferences for Online
Cancer Information Among Patients’ Loved Ones,” is available online at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26636409
.
The study received funding from an internal research grant
from Michigan State University’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences.
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