The Effects of ChronicTerminal Illness on Family Wellbeing

1
The Effects of Chronic/Terminal Illness on Family
Wellbeing

• Jeff BrightTerree CarterRenee MickensEmily
  SchultzAmy Shaw
• (Paul L. Schvaneveldt, Ph.D.
• Faculty Mentor)

Child Family Studies Weber State University
2
Introduction

• High levels of stress and difficulties are
  placed on families coping with a
• terminally and/or chronically ill family member.
  In understanding the
• impacts of terminal and/or chronic illness on the
  family, four separate
• areas are studied financial stress, family
  cohesion, family functioning,
• and psychological wellbeing. It is believed that
  functioning in these four
• domains is impacted in reaction to a family
  member experiencing a
• chronic/terminal illness.
• An important aspect of healthy family functioning
  is the ability to
• appropriately manage levels of cohesion and
  healthy communication. A
• major goal of the current study is to understand
  how families react to a
• family member diagnosed with a chronic/terminal
  illness. The major
• issues to be explored are Does the stress and
  strain of care giving
• impact family cohesion? How is communication and
  problem solving
• impacted? How do families cope financially? Is
  individual wellbeing
• impacted?

3
Review of Literature

• Previous research shows that the entire family
  is affected as a
• result of a family member experiencing a
  chronic/terminal illness.
• Family members tend to spend less time together,
  spouses reported
• they were less capable of fulfilling their role
  within the family
• system, and stress related to financial concerns
  increased due to
• increased health care costs (Smith Soliday,
  2001).
• Other areas of life, such as relationships with
  school, work, and
• friends were significantly impacted due to
  caregiving tasks. Stress
• and tension often increased among the family
  members. Also,
• financial responsibilities were especially
  difficult when the ill
• family member was the primary bread winner.
  (Lakey, 2001) .
• Other research shows that some families
  initially become more
• cohesive in reaction to a family member
  experiencing a
• chronic/terminal illness. Over time, however,
  stressors may build
• which lead to greater conflict and disengagement
  (Qualls, 1994).

4
Hypotheses

• The level of family cohesion and closeness
• within a family prior to the diagnosis of a
  family
• member experiencing a chronic/terminal illness
• is associated with similar levels of cohesion
• afterwards.
• Family tension, financial strain, and individual
• wellbeing are likely to be compromised by
• caring for a family member with a
• chronic/terminal illness.

5
Methods

• Course Project
• Child Family Studies 3850 Research Methods
  Course
• Instructor Paul Schvaneveldt, Ph.D., CFLE
• Sample
• Participants were those with a family member
  diagnosed with a chronicle/terminal illness.
  Participants included Weber State University
  students, Utah Hospice participants, family
  members of McKay Dee Hospital patients, and
  internet respondents.
• 74 of the sample were female and 26 male.
• 68 of the respondents were ages 18-30, 8 ages
  31-40, 13 ages 41-50, 9 ages 51-60, and 1 60
  or older.
• 93 were Caucasian with nearly equal percentages
  in Latino, African American, and Asian American
  categories.
• Format
• Self-administered questionnaire
• 60 items intending to measure family reaction to
  Financial stress and coping, Family cohesion,
  Care giving options, Psychological wellbeing.
• Participants were asked to retrospectively assess
  family well-being before and after the diagnosis
  to allow for a comparison of family well-being
  across time.

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Significant Correlations

• Stress related to financial obligations and
  family has adequate health insurance -.401
• Feel close as a family and feeling guilty when
  take time off from caregiving responsibilities
  .319
• Feeling close as a family before diagnosis and
  feeling close as a family after diagnosis .373
• p lt .01

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Matched Pairs t-Tests Before and After Diagnosis
p lt .05 p lt .01 p lt .001
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Discussion

• Psychological wellbeing
• Less Time for Self, Family Friends
• Family Functioning
• Greater Conflict After Diagnosis
• More Tension
• Family Cohesion
• Greater levels of cohesion prior to the diagnosis
  was positively correlated with greater cohesion
  after the diagnosis.
• Financial Strain
• Adequate health insurance associated with less
  financial stress

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Conclusion

• Developing greater family cohesion prior to a
  crisis is likely a key protective factor in
  helping families cope with a family member with a
  chronic/terminal illness.
• Providing respite care and assistance to families
  caring for a chronically ill family member very
  important.
• Families with adequate health insurance reported
  fewer financial stressors.

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National Recognition

• Winner, 2003 Outstanding
• Undergraduate Research Paper
• Awarded by the
• National Council on Family Relations