NEEDS AND STIMULI INFLUENCING NEEDS OF ADULT CANCER PATIENTS.
Contributors: University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 246
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: A descriptive exploratory study was conducted using a convenience sample of 30 subjects to describe (a) the needs of newly diagnosed cancer patients and cancer patients with recurrent disease undergoing chemotherapy and (b) the focal, contextual, and residual stimuli influencing the needs. Furthermore, the purpose was to determine if there is (a) a significant difference in the frequency of needs between the two groups and (b) a significant relationship between the frequency of needs and the number of disease recurrences. The methodology was derived and developed from Roy's (1984) conceptualization of the assessment phase of the nursing process.

A semi-structured interview schedule was developed for data collection. Needs were content analyzed, and descriptive and nonparametric statistics were used to analyze data.

The respective categories with the highest frequency of needs for newly diagnosed patients and patients with recurrent disease were the self-concept and interdependence. The physiological and role function categories were third and fourth in frequency of needs for both groups.

The cancerous process or its treatment with chemotherapy was the focal stimulus. Contextual stimuli related to the disease or treatment process. Religiosity, transcendence, and past experiences were predominant residual stimuli.

There was a significant difference in the frequency of interdependence needs between the two groups. The strongest relationship was for interdependence needs with the number of disease recurrences. Thus, in response to the repeated assault by cancer or its treatment with chemotherapy, adult cancer patients with recurrent disease expressed a greater number of needs in all four adaptive modes and particularly needs related to receiving love and caring support from others.

The Roy adaptation model (1984) provided a useful framework for the purposes and methodology of the study. However, there appears to be some element of redundancy between the self-concept and interdependence categories. Implications for nursing practice and education are presented, followed by recommendations for future research (a) to test the validity of the findings and the adequacy of the Roy adaptation model (1984) and, thus, further theory development and (b) to establish greater rater consistency in categorizing adult cancer patients' needs according to the model.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-08, Section: B, page: 2259.

Thesis (D.S.N.)--UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, 1987.

School code: 0005.