In the evolving landscape of colorectal cancer care, a groundbreaking qualitative study sheds new light on the pivotal role of family support throughout the outpatient treatment journey. Published in the prestigious journal BMC Cancer, this research uncovers the nuanced dynamics between healthcare professionals—specifically contact nurses—and family members of patients. It emphasizes the critical need to tailor support systems that resonate deeply with the lived experiences of families grappling with cancer, a dimension often overlooked in conventional healthcare paradigms.
At the heart of the study lies a profound acknowledgment: when cancer touches a patient, it simultaneously sends ripples through their immediate support network. Family members frequently find themselves in liminal spaces, oscillating between caregiver, advocate, and emotional anchor. Despite their centrality, healthcare frameworks have historically prioritized interventions aimed either at patients or caregivers separately, rarely exploring the co-created space where meaningful support is cultivated through dynamic interaction and mutual understanding.
Employing a qualitative single case study design, the research team delved into the perspectives of two embedded units—family members and contact nurses involved in outpatient colorectal cancer care. Through meticulously conducted, semi-structured interviews with 23 family members and 21 contact nurses, the study captures a rich tapestry of experiences and expectations. This dual-focused lens allows for a layered exploration of the reciprocal relationship influencing support mechanisms across varied stages of the cancer care trajectory.
The analysis distilled a unifying conceptual category labeled “Aiming for survival”—a thematic expression encapsulating the shared objective driving both family members and healthcare providers. This overarching goal shapes the nature of support that unfolds, underscoring survival not merely in biological terms but also as a psychosocial quest for resilience and normalcy within families affected by cancer.
Diving deeper, the investigation identified three distinct phases in the colorectal cancer care continuum: the diagnostic phase, the treatment phase, and the surveillance phase. Each phase brings unique challenges and demands that intricately mold the kinds of support family members require—and the ways contact nurses provide it.
During the diagnostic phase, family members often experience a “narrowed sight” where their focus becomes intensely fixated on treatment preparation. This period is characterized by uncertainty, rapidly evolving information, and emotional turbulence. Support during this phase is frequently overshadowed by clinical imperatives, leaving families in need of clearer communication and acknowledgment of their anxieties. The study highlights the critical gap where families may feel sidelined even as they urgently seek guidance.
As the care journey progresses into the treatment phase, family caregiving ascends to the foreground. However, paradoxically, this increased caregiving burden comes at the cost of family members’ own supportive needs being relegated to the background. Contact nurses, while attentive to patients’ clinical courses, may consequently under-recognize the emotional and practical support families require to sustain their caregiving roles. This misalignment points to an urgent call for more holistic engagement strategies that embrace the dyadic nature of patient-family care.
The surveillance phase unfolds as a complex, enduring chapter marked by ongoing vigilance and emotional weariness. Family members often perceive themselves as co-survivors, bound to the cancer narrative well beyond active treatment. Nonetheless, their supportive care needs may go unaddressed, with healthcare systems not fully equipped to acknowledge or assist the long-term psychosocial impacts experienced by families. The study unpacks how this phase demands sustained, adaptive support frameworks to mitigate feelings of isolation and chronic stress.
Crucially, the research advocates for tailored support strategies emanating directly from family members’ articulated experiences throughout every stage of the cancer trajectory. This approach requires healthcare professionals to adopt flexible, responsive interventions that surface and validate family concerns as integral to care planning. It suggests that such tailored support is not a static provision but rather an emergent product of ongoing, collaborative interactions between family members and caregivers.
One promising avenue for enhancing support is through bolstered collaboration between contact nurses and clinical social workers. Integrating psychosocial expertise into routine cancer care may provide a critical bridge to address the invisible yet salient needs of families. This interdisciplinary synergy has the potential to enrich support networks, making them more accessible, responsive, and contextually relevant.
The findings underscore the necessity for family members to receive preparation and support not only during crises but longitudinally, enabling healthier recoveries for families once active treatment concludes. This sustained support is positioned as foundational for fostering resilience, emotional equilibrium, and the restoration of everyday life rhythms disrupted by cancer.
Another pivotal insight involves equipping family members with clear guidance on navigating the healthcare system—clarifying when, where, and whom to approach at each juncture of the cancer care process. This knowledge empowers families to advocate effectively, seek timely assistance, and reduce the burden of uncertainty that often worsens psychological distress.
By foregrounding a co-created support paradigm, the study challenges traditional unilateral models and instead illuminates a bidirectional process where family needs and professional responses co-evolve. Such an orientation has profound implications for policy, training, and clinical practice in oncology nursing, advocating for a shift toward a more relational and context-sensitive model.
This research opens a crucial dialogue on redefining cancer care beyond the patient-centric biomedical model to encompass the broader family ecosystem. It urges oncology services to rethink their strategies, ensuring that care frameworks acknowledge and integrate family-centered perspectives as core to effective survivorship planning.
As colorectal cancer remains a prevalent global health challenge, these insights pave the way for innovations in outpatient care that can enhance quality of life for patients and families alike. They also stress the value of qualitative methodologies in capturing the intricate human experiences that quantitative metrics often fail to convey.
In an era increasingly attentive to personalized and precision medicine, the findings remind us that personalization must extend beyond tumor genomics to encompass the psychosocial fabric enveloping patients. Understanding support as a dynamic, co-created practice embeds compassion and responsiveness into the fabric of cancer care.
Ultimately, the study’s conclusion resonates as a call to action for healthcare systems worldwide: to design and implement support interventions that are empathetic, adaptable, and deeply reflective of family members’ ongoing experiences. In doing so, the journey through colorectal cancer care becomes not just a fight for survival but also a collaborative path toward healing and hope.
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Subject of Research: Support needs of family members in outpatient colorectal cancer care and the role of contact nurses in addressing these needs across the cancer care trajectory.
Article Title: Aiming for survival: a qualitative single case study of support for family members across the care process in outpatient colorectal cancer care
Article References:
Samuelsson, M., Edman, K., Neziraj, M. et al. Aiming for survival: a qualitative single case study of support for family members across the care process in outpatient colorectal cancer care. BMC Cancer 25, 856 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-025-14245-2
Image Credits: Scienmag.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-025-14245-2
