forced to help. This might have been a reflection of an
unsatisfying relationship prior to surgery as along with the
burden of being a caregiver. Further research is needed to
explore the impact of caregiving for partners to persons
treated for CRC cancer.
Participants had different attitudes towards the extent that
cancer was a mutual concern. To share the illness, to have a
joint ownership of cancer is described by Illingworth et al.
(2010) and is present in this study, as well as the opposite
attitude where cancer is considered a personal concern. Some
partners had insufficient information because of the patient’s
inability or unwillingness to share information. We found
that both among patients and among partners, the need for
information could vary, similar to earlier study on patients
with CRC (Worster & Holmes 2008). Some patients were
even reluctant to discuss their problems with the doctor
preferring to create theories of their own, a behaviour that
could be understood by the findings of Leydon (2000)
showing a limited desire to obtain information for fear of
getting their hopes undermined (Leydon et al. 2000).
The physical condition of the patient could force partners to
be more involved in the patient’s illness than they had initially
planned. This illuminates the need to support partners when
they want support and establish channels for reaching both
patients and their partners and to assess their needs several
times during the illness trajectory. It is an important task for
nurses to provide this support and establish a good relationship
with the couple (Illingworth et al. 2010).