The purpose of this study was to clarify the concerns that cancer patients have about their parents through a literature review. We conducted a search on the Ichushi Web using the following keywords: “cancer,” “cancer patients,” “concerns,” “thoughts,” “thoughts about family,” “distress,” “burden,” and “parents.” Cancer patients’ concerns about their parents were abstracted into categories and subcategories using content analysis techniques. We analyzed 16 articles. Sixty codes, nineteen subcategories, and five categories were identified for concerns of cancer patients about their parents. The five categories included: “concerns about imposing the burden of providing physical and mental support on parents,” “distress about imposing extra burden on parents,” “worries about parents’ care and health,” “burden of having to tell parents about the disease,” “regret about not being able to fulfill the role of a child.” This study’s novelty lies in the exploration of cancer patients’ feelings towards their parents; (1) feelings of wanting to depend on their parents like a child by “venting their emotions to their parents” despite knowing that it can add “the burden on their parents of providing physical and mental support” and (2) having contradicting feelings of wanting to support their parents versus needing support from their parents, as expressed by their “distress to avoid imposing extra burdens on parents.” It is necessary important for nurses to need to collaborate with other professionals to support patients in utilizing the social resources they seek.

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The aims of this study were to explore trends in research regarding the siblings of children/persons with neurodevelopmental disorders and to discuss future challenges related to this topic. A literature review was conducted by searching the Japan Centra Revuo Medicina Web (ver. 5) using the neurodevelopmental disorder and sibling as key words. Seventeen articles were identified and analyzed. Study subjects were predominantly the siblings and few studies analyzed medical records or the published literature. Although developmental stages of the siblings varied widely, few studies evaluated those at school age or younger, and none limited their target to adolescents. Qualitative inductive analysis revealed the following six categories of research content: psychological reactions of the sibling and influencing factors, process by which the siblings build relationships with their siblings with neurodevelopmental disorders, the siblings’ perception of the disability and its effect on their family image, analysis of professional support for the siblings, process by which the siblings adapt to the life with a sibling with neurodevelopmental disorder, and case study on experiences and feelings of the sibling who is already an adult. It was confirmed that the siblings’ experiences were affected by the behavior and attitude of those around them. Experiences of siblings specific to adolescence constitute a topic to be explored in future research.

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In this study, we clarified the trend of consultations at the Oncology Nursing Outpatient Clinic of Gunma University Hospital over a 10-year period. The total of approximately 13 000 consultations at the Oncology Nursing Outpatient Clinic from April 2010 to March 2020 were summarized. The survey items included the number of consultations, the consultation frequency, categories of consulters (patients/non-patients), hospital visit status of the consulters, and concerns for which consultations were sought. Analysis was performed by the simple aggregation function on Excel for each item and each year. The results showed that the total number of consultations has remained at the level of 1000-1500 per year since 2013. In regard to the consultation frequency, ‘2 or more times’ since 2017 was more than 50%. The categories of consulters were ‘Patients’ and ‘Other than patients’, accounting for similar percentages. However, the percentage of ‘Patients’ has been on the rise since 2015. In regard to the hospital visit status of the consulters, ‘Had received outpatient treatment at Gunma University Hospital’ and ‘Had received inpatient treatment at Gunma University Hospital’ have ranked high since 2015. The most common concerns for which the consultations were sought were ‘Cancer treatment,’ ‘Anxiety and mental distress,’ ‘Symptoms, side effects and sequelae,’. Initially, ‘Cancer treatment’ ranked top among the concerns for which consultations were sought, but ‘Anxiety and mental distress’ has been on the rise since 2017. It was suggested that it is important to maintain a consultation system that can be used by users of Gunma University Hospital and cancer patients and their families in Gunma Prefecture.

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The purpose of this study was to clarify from the literature the emotions of family involved in decision-making for elderly cancer patients during cancer treatment. We searched the website of the Japan Medical Abstracts Society (Ver.5) using the keywords ‘elderly,’ ‘cancer,’ ‘family,’ and ‘decision-making,’ and selected 13 articles that suited the purpose of this study. The analysis was conducted using a qualitative and inductive method, in accordance with the method reported by Berelson, B., and the following 5 categories were extracted: [Wanting to make the best choice also for the family, while respecting the patient's will], [Feeling the burden of making important decisions while being in uncertain circumstances], [Wanting to consider the mental burden imposed on the elderly patient when he/she is notified of the cancer diagnosis], [Wanting the patient to receive the best available treatment so that he/she can live for as long as possible] and [Wanting to support the patient to live in a setting of palliative care in a facility with a sense of security]. Elderly cancer patients make decisions based on their values and beliefs. Therefore, it is necessary to improve communication skills within the family. It is also important to be involved, so that changes in daily life due to medical treatment and palliative care can be understood.

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This literature review sheds light on the social distress related to employment experienced by terminal cancer patients. Using the website of the Japan Medical Abstracts Society, 10 relevant articles were selected by entering the following keywords: ‘cancer,’ ‘patient,’ ‘terminal stage,’ and ‘work,’ ‘employment,’ ‘society’, ‘distress,’ ‘agony,’ ‘anxiety,’ and ‘relationship.’ Descriptive statistics were used, and a qualitative inductive method was employed to analyze terminal cancer patients’ social distress. As a result, all studies were factor-exploratory studies. There are three categories of social distress related to employment of end-of-life cancer patients: feeling of alienation that the workplace does not understand, feeling of emptiness due to not being able to work as before, and concerns in family due to being unable to work. Nurses are required to collaborate with industrial nurses and improve the environment so that they can continue the work they can do even at the end of life. In addition, emotional support is needed to create new roles so that the meaning and dignity of living in society can be enhanced. On the economic front, we need to help find value in new families, not to mention interventions in collaboration with MSW.

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This study was aimed at investigating the feelings of cancer survivors in the adolescent and young adult (AYA) age group from the Japanese literature, and to obtain suggestions for improving nursing support provision in the future. We conducted a search of the Japan Medical Abstracts Society Database using the following keywords: juvenile, young adult, adolescence, early adult, and cancer, and selected 23 qualitative studies that matched our study objective. Descriptive statistics (e.g., cancer site) were calculated, and the feelings of the cancer survivors in the AYA age group were analyzed using a qualitative and inductive method. Results showed that the most common site of cancer in this age group was the blood/lymphatic system in 34%. The following 7 categories were extracted as the feelings of cancer survivors in the AYA age group: unacceptable hardship associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment, agonizing about having to continue to live with cancer, conflict perceived in relationships with others, the comfort brought by interacting with people close to you ,desire for making own decisions after obtaining the necessary information, feelings of expectations for staying alive and awareness of personal growth gained from the experiences of living with cancer. In order to live with cancer despite worrying about life events, the cancer survivors in the AYA age group need nursing support from nursing personnel with an understanding of their conflicts and strengths.

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The objective of this study is to clarify the thoughts of family members of end-of-life cancer patients about terminal care and patients' deaths based on the national literature. Studies published from April 2007 to March 2020 were searched using the online version of the database of the Japan Medical Abstract Society by combining the keywords ‘cancer,’ ‘terminal care or terminal,’ and ‘family’ with ‘psychology’ or ‘mind’ or ‘thoughts.’ Thirty-eight articles were ultimately extracted, and descriptions of family members' thoughts about terminal care and patient deaths were analyzed qualitatively and inductively. As a result, three categories of thoughts on nursing at a deathbed held by family members of patients with end-of-life cancer were extracted: ‘wanting to get closer and devote oneself to the patient to ensure a calm end to life,’ ‘anguish over nursing the patient who is approaching death,’ and ‘hoping for the slight possibility of the patient living.’ As a suggestion for nursing, the necessity of the following forms of support was clarified: aid that promotes anticipatory grief according to the individual, empathy for the complex thoughts of the family, and the need for involvement so that the family feels that they are doing something to the patient.

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