Background: The burden of cancer embodies the lived experiences and perspectives of people who have dealt with the challenges and difficulties of cancer. The landscape of cancer care in the United States has transitioned to a predominantly outpatient care system, so cancer care has become increasingly burdensome on the patient and family.
Aim: The thesis describes the cancer care burden experiences of Chinese, Filipino and Indian American cancer-diagnosed immigrants and their family carers as well as explores the factors associated with their cancer care burdens.
Method: Interpretivist and constructivist qualitative approaches were used to gather and analyse data from 9 cancer-diagnosed individuals and 9 family carers. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were employed. A semi-structured interview format was used for data collection.
Results: The analysis generated three main themes that reflect cancer care burden experiences of the sample population: psychosocial burdens, burdens related to healthcare, and competing priorities. Several factors related to social, economic, cultural, and institutional context were found to have a relationship with the cancer care burdens.
Conclusion: The findings illustrate that Asian American immigrant families deal with complex and multifaceted cancer care burdens that are connected to the social, economic and cultural conditions that shape their lives. Insight from the thesis is a critical first step for understanding the pathways of cancer care burdens amongst immigrant families.