Leaving footprints, not scars: a qualitative pilot study of Hispanic mothers' willingness to communicate with dependent children about an advanced cancer diagnosis.

purposeUS Hispanics are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced cancer as parents than their non-Hispanic white counterparts but little is known about Hispanic parents' willingness to discuss a terminal cancer diagnosis with dependent children, potentially resulting in suboptimal child coping. Therefore, we investigated Hispanic mothers' willingness to communicate with dependent children about her actual or hypothetical advanced cancer diagnosis.

methodsTwo focus groups (n = 6 participants) and three one-on-one interviews (n = 3) were conducted in either Spanish or English among adult, Mexican-American mothers with a current cancer diagnosis of any stage residing in US-Mexico border communities. Participants reported their perceived concerns, parenting challenges, and openness to discussing an incurable cancer diagnosis with a dependent child. Audio files were transcribed into English and qualitatively coded using content analysis.

resultsParticipants, most with breast cancer, ranged in age from 25 to 47. Five had considered the possibility of their own death from advanced cancer and three had previously discussed this with their children. While many expected their children would carry on well without them, seven expressed concern for the emotional/spiritual well-being of their children. Mothers anticipated physical and time-based parenting challenges but wanted the opportunity to focus on themselves and their children in advance of death. All but one would be willing to discuss an advance cancer diagnosis with dependent children; four expressed the value of doing so or the potential harm of abdicating this responsibility.

conclusionsIf faced with an advanced cancer diagnosis, Mexican-American mothers are open to communicating with dependent children.