Critical Appraisal Summary

The quantitative article I have chosen for critical appraisal is titled, “Health Behaviors in Family Members of Patients Completing Cancer Treatment.” This article reviews that unhealthy behaviors are prominent with survivors of cancer, the authors support that the transition point from post-treatment to survivorship may be a beneficial moment for discussion of health promotion and behavior change with cancer survivors and family caregivers of survivors. The article suggests there is limited research concerning the role that family members play in health behaviors and the impact the cancer experience has. I chose this article as I am a Genitourinary Oncology Nurse Navigator and have interest in this topic. I am often in the position to teach

Mazanec et al, (2015) discussed that the main purposes of this study were to describe the implications on the health behaviors among family caregivers of cancer survivors and to uncover factors that are associated with the family member’s intent for health-promoting behavior. The researchers also included secondary purposes in which they assessed the feasibility of interviewing family caregivers at the post-cancer treatment transition, tested the appropriateness of a health behavior assessment tool, and described patients’ goals for their health at end of treatment (Mazanec et al, 2015). Although the authors did not clearly state their research questions, I would concur the researchers were aiming to answer the following questions: What impact does the cancer experience have on the health behaviors of survivors of family members? What are the factors that are associated with family members’ intentions for health behavior change? How convenient is conducting the interviews with families at the post-cancer treatment transition? How adequate is the health behavior assessment tool? What are the patients’ goals for their health at the completion of their treatment? (Mazanec et al.,

“Pragmatic, evidence-based interventions that capitalize on the receptivity of family members and patients towards wellness strategies at the post-treatment transition must be developed and tested (Mazanec et al., 2015, p.61). The authors also noted that additional research is needed to promote optimal behavior change and to explore the best way to integrate communication strategies into clinical