Family Communication Patterns After Melanoma Diagnosis

Abstract

To examine health communication in families after cancer diagnosis, we conducted qualitative interviews examining communication processes among recently diagnosed melanoma patients and one of their adult children. Communication regarding melanoma and prevention is common in these families, yet adherence to recommended prevention and screening behaviors is inconsistent. Our study objectives were to examine processes regarding disclosure of the melanoma diagnosis, responses to this information in family members, and processes by which families encourage melanoma prevention and screening behaviors, specifically, sun protection and skin cancer screening. Participants were recruited during their melanoma surgical follow-up appointment, and included nineteen families. Thematic content analysis was conducted via team and individual coding. The findings reveal that intimacy and emotional closeness, gender, communication style, convenience/proximity, the presence of closed relationships, and perceived negative effects of the news impacted disclosure of the family melanoma diagnosis. Anxiety and increased informational needs were the primary responses in family members hearing about the diagnosis. Encouragement to adopt protective behaviors was achieved through risk awareness, ad-hoc reminders, scare tactics, and actually performing the health behavior. The communication challenges and opportunities presented by our findings may further inform physician counseling and health education strategies for cancer families.

This study was supported by grant K07 CA98106 provided by the National Institutes of Health to Jennifer L. Hay. We acknowledge the valued contributions of our coding team members Sunita Mohabir, PhD, and Thomas Reynolds, MA, and the editorial comments of Carma Bylund, PhD, in the preparation of this manuscript.