PROLONGED CANCER DEATH - A FAMILY AFFAIR

The frequency with which families have to deal with cancer death is in creasing as the population ages. The prevalence of some cancers in you nger people is also increasing. In this article the authors focus on h elping families deal with the anticipated cancer death of a family mem ber. The article includes a definition of those groups of people who f orm families in the 1990s and examines dimensions along which families vary such a belief systems. We discuss the needs of families when a f amily member has a terminal cancer diagnosis and outline coping strate gies that are seen in families and ways in which nurses and other heal th care professionals can facilitate adaptive coping.