Hope and Quality of Life in Caregivers of Cancer Patients

Hope as conceptualized by Dufault and Martocchio (1985) “is a multidimensional dynamic life force characterized by a confident yet uncertain expectation of achieving a future good.”Quality of Life is defined by Lehto, Ojanen and Kellokumpu-Lehtinen (2005) “as appraisal of and satisfaction with their current level of functioning as compared to what they perceive to be possible or ideal.”The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between Hope, its dimensions and Quality of Life in Caregivers of Cancer Patients. A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to draw the sample of 40 Caregivers of patients with Breast and Ovarian Cancer belonging to lower middle class and upper lower class. The Herth Hope Index (HHI) (Herth, 1992) and the Caregiver Quality Of Life Index- Cancer (CQOLC) (Weitzner, Jacobsen, Wagner, Friedland & Cox, 1999) were administered. There was significant difference in the levels of Positive Readiness & Expectancy among caregivers based on their socio-economic status. Positive Readiness & Expectancy and Interconnectedness were found to be negatively correlated with quality of life. Results indicated no significant difference in the levels of Hope and Quality of Life based on age and type of cancer.