Table 4.

Narratives.

	The course of the disease	The need for help at home	Communication with the health care system	Main concerns
Erika and Sven	Erika, 41 years old, is the daughter of Sven. Sven is 64 years old and was diagnosed with cancer 15 years ago. Back then, he received treatment in Denmark with radiation and chemotherapy. Erika did not have the opportunity to be with him during treatment. Sven had a relapse of cancer a year ago and since then he has lived in a small settlement. He needs to travel every third week to QIH for chemotherapeutic treatment.	Erika sees that her father’s condition has deteriorated and he is no longer capable of fishing,hunting and providing his family with meat. Erika helps with the cleaning, and fetching and carrying water, because Sven lives in a house without running water. What she considers to be a difficult task is the administration of her father’s medicine, particularly analgesics.	Erika has a little contact with the local health worker, but when her father gets in pain, is nauseous or constipated or what she perceives as a serious problem – lack of appetite – she doesn’t know where or how to get in contact with other health care professionals. Erika has many thoughts about the disease and doesn’t know if her father will recover.	Erika is comfortable with the father being able to stay in his own home town, but she is uncertain if this can continue. She has a lot of speculations about what will happen in the near future. The father has requested employment and support allowance, but has not yet received it. Erika helps her father economically.
				There are no opportunities to get advice and guidance on their situation in their village. Sven has given Erika the telephone number to QIH, but Erika has not yet contacted them.
Ole and Debora	Ole has been married to Debora for 45 years. They are both 68 years old. Debora got cancer in 2016 and was diagnosed at a late stage. She was given the opportunity to receive palliative chemotherapy, which she gets in her small hometown every third week.	Both Debora and Ole have difficulties in managing the practical work in the house and receive help from local municipal workers. A nurse comes regularly to administer Debora’s medicine and in collaboration with Debora and Ole she can contact the local hospital.	Ole always goes with Debora for her treatment and he knows about the plan for treatment. Their adult children have also been participating in conversations with the doctors and nurses. They know who to contact if they have doubts and Ole (as a relative) can stay in a bed at the hospital, if he wants to stay with Debora when she is hospitalised.	At the hospital, Ole meets other relatives in a similar situation and appreciates that kind of contact with others. Besides that, they often go to church and the couple also has contact with the priest if they need to talk. The community is small and everybody knows each other. Sometimes Ole needs to talk to someone who does not know them. The big concern for Ole is the day when he will be left alone.
Else and Aron	Else is 36 years old. Her father, Aron, at 69, has had a cancer diagnosis for the last six years and his treatment demands that he relocate to Denmark. Since then Aron has travelled long distances and the last decision the physicians made was that they could offer life-prolonging treatment in Denmark.	When Aron is at home, he gets help from Else and her family. But he has only been home for limited periods, primarily for holidays.	Else has not been involved in communication with the health care professionals at any time during her father’s disease. But from what her father has told her, she comes to realise that her father suffers from incurable cancer.	Else calls Aron every day to hear how he is doing and she can hear her father’s condition is worsening. Else has no knowledge of how long her father will be gone for treatment. The local health workers have not received any information yet. Else would like to be with Aron.