Real-world holistic care for adult cancer survivors and their families: improved family dynamics and positive outlook

For Pete’s Sake is a non-profit organization that provides adult cancer survivors and their families with complimentary holistic support. Families receive a 4–7-day respite experience. Post-respite, family members receive ongoing support (monthly newsletters, private Facebook groups, monthly gatherings, annual events). Anecdotally, families report feeling happier, closer, and recharged for battling cancer, so the purpose of this study was to assess these outcomes. This was a single group, pre-test/post-test study. Oncology professionals nominated 24–55-year-olds with physician-diagnosed cancer (any stage/site) clinically able to partake in a respite experience. Families selected destinations (e.g., Florida, Caribbean, Jersey Shore) and received materials to encourage communication and an emotionally/spiritually meaningful experience. Of the 464 families completing respites in 2014–2019, 190 families (41%) provided pre- and post-respite data, and 104 families (55%) completed the 6-month follow-up. Pre-, immediately post-, and 6-months post-respite, cancer survivors, caregivers, and children completed surveys assessing family hardiness, spousal or parent–child communication, cancer coping efficacy, and joviality. Cancer survivors experienced post-respite increases in family hardiness, caregiver and child communication, joviality, and coping efficacy. Caregivers experienced post-respite increases in survivor communication, joviality, and coping efficacy but not family hardiness. Children experienced post-respite increases in joviality, but not family hardiness or communication. At the 6-month follow-up, survivor family hardiness returned to pre-respite levels and child communication decreased, but all other outcomes were higher than pre-respite levels. All caregiver outcomes were higher than pre-respite levels; child outcomes returned to pre-respite levels. These results suggest that investing resources in families may help improve relationships and facilitate efforts to stay engaged in the cancer battle.