Presentation Type

Presentation

Faculty Mentor’s Full Name

Laurie Minns

Faculty Mentor’s Department

Division of Biological Sciences

Abstract / Artist's Statement

Sunny Mathaun, Dr. Laurie Minns

Brain Cancer Caregivers Experience High Emotional Distress

Glioblastoma multiforme grade 4 is a type of highly malignant tumor that has an extremely poor prognosis, which leads to major emotional challenges such as heavy and unhealthy burden on caregivers. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most severe types of cancer with an average prognosis of 15 months. Due to its high mortality rate, GBM creates major health challenges for patients in a fast rate, but also significantly impacts the caregivers who are caring for these patients. Caregivers can be categorized in a formal and informal manner. Most GBM caregivers are informal, specifically female family members and/or close friends that care for GBM patients during this short and painful time. One of the major challenges that caregivers encounter is their deteriorating emotional health. The emotional symptoms that arise from caregiving GBM patients are high levels of stress, anxiety, caregiver burden and mastery, depression, and more. For this research study, we want to examine these emotional symptoms that caregivers experience and if they have an influence on the survival rate and quality of care delivered for GBM grade 4 patients. To examine the emotional health aspect of caregivers, we collected data from 50 out of the 102 total letters from female caregivers of male GBM patients to conduct qualitative content analysis. We only focused on 50 out of the total 102 letters to analyze specific keywords that highly expressed emotional distress in caregiver burden. These letters are open-ended questions from as early as the summer of 2019. This study was approved by the institutional review board of the University of Montana (IRB #224-19) and all letter writers completed informed consent. By addressing the emotional health of caregivers and how they influence the survival rate and quality of care delivered for GBM patients, this can set a precedent to lessen caregiver burden, possibly improve quality of care delivered for GBM patients, and bring more awareness to this issue for medical providers.

Category

Social Sciences

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Brain Cancer Caregivers Experience High Emotional Distress

Sunny Mathaun, Dr. Laurie Minns

Brain Cancer Caregivers Experience High Emotional Distress

Glioblastoma multiforme grade 4 is a type of highly malignant tumor that has an extremely poor prognosis, which leads to major emotional challenges such as heavy and unhealthy burden on caregivers. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most severe types of cancer with an average prognosis of 15 months. Due to its high mortality rate, GBM creates major health challenges for patients in a fast rate, but also significantly impacts the caregivers who are caring for these patients. Caregivers can be categorized in a formal and informal manner. Most GBM caregivers are informal, specifically female family members and/or close friends that care for GBM patients during this short and painful time. One of the major challenges that caregivers encounter is their deteriorating emotional health. The emotional symptoms that arise from caregiving GBM patients are high levels of stress, anxiety, caregiver burden and mastery, depression, and more. For this research study, we want to examine these emotional symptoms that caregivers experience and if they have an influence on the survival rate and quality of care delivered for GBM grade 4 patients. To examine the emotional health aspect of caregivers, we collected data from 50 out of the 102 total letters from female caregivers of male GBM patients to conduct qualitative content analysis. We only focused on 50 out of the total 102 letters to analyze specific keywords that highly expressed emotional distress in caregiver burden. These letters are open-ended questions from as early as the summer of 2019. This study was approved by the institutional review board of the University of Montana (IRB #224-19) and all letter writers completed informed consent. By addressing the emotional health of caregivers and how they influence the survival rate and quality of care delivered for GBM patients, this can set a precedent to lessen caregiver burden, possibly improve quality of care delivered for GBM patients, and bring more awareness to this issue for medical providers.