Burden of Care and Childhood Cancer: Experiences of Parents in an Asian Context

Abstract

This article discusses a two-phase qualitative study on parents' experiences of psychosocial needs arising from having a child with cancer over four to eight months in multicultural Singapore. Given the value of children to Asian families and the practical support available in a collectivist context, the author expected the subjective burden of care to be more pronounced than the objective burden at the initial stage of treatment and the objective burden to be greater after discharge from the hospital. Findings showed subjective burden consistently higher at both phases. Implications for psychosocial support for parents are discussed.