Facilitators and obstacles to couples' intimacy after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a qualitative study

To identify perceived factors related to intimacy following HSCT.

Qualitative descriptive design.

Patients diagnosed with hematological cancer, 6 months into their HSCT recovery, and their partners.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 participants (nine patients and their partners). A thematic analysis was carried out.

Couples reported various obstacles to intimacy, such as emotional obstacles (i.e. negative emotions, emotional mismatch), the length of the disease, its treatments and side effects, and the patient's physical condition. Couples also reported facilitators to intimacy, such as using emotional facilitators (e.g. showing empathy), fostering open communication or sharing common experience of the disease.

This study highlights specific factors that influence couples' intimacy in the context of HSCT.Implications for Psychosocial Providers: Couples' intervention delivered in cancer care should be adapted by focusing on specific factors that maintain or enhance couples' intimacy.

[Traumatic events and psychological support for caregivers]

When a major event such as a terrorist attack occurs, caregivers may not only be confronted with a life-endangering situation as they tend to the victims but are also faced with particularly harrowing scenes, the massive influx of seriously injured victims, the distress of the injured and their families and the disorganisation of the care structure. The psychological trauma must be treated on an individual or collective level.