UNMC recently profiled Bailey Hendricks, PhD, an assistant professor in the UNMC College of Nursing, on its on Instagram (@iamunmc) and Facebook (@unmcedu) accounts.
Dr. Hendricks focuses her research on caregiving youth, or children under age 18 who help care for a parent with cancer. When she was 16 years old, her mother was diagnosed with metastatic triple negative breast cancer.
Dr. Hendricks discussed that experience and how it has shaped her career and research focus. She also reached out to anyone who is living a similar experience.
Here is Dr. Hendricks’ perspective in her own words:
“My interest in this topic started in my childhood. When I was 16 years old, my mother was diagnosed with metastatic triple negative breast cancer. From her diagnosis until her death two years later, my responsibilities shifted to accommodate the manifold effects of cancer – I had adopted a caregiving youth role without even realizing it.
“Through this experience, I recognized early on that cancer affects not just the diagnosed individual but also their loved ones. I was drawn to nursing by the desire to better understand the impact of disease on families and to help alleviate its multidimensional effects. During my transition from RN to PhD, I delved deeper into the experiences of caregiving youth, looking at their role in different disease contexts. I eventually narrowed my focus to families impacted by cancer.
“I think there is a lot of negativity surrounding the idea of caregiving youth. People do not like to picture children helping take care of parents, but the longer I am in this area of research, the more people I meet who have had this experience. After all, coping with a cancer diagnosis often involves the whole family. I want people to know that a child taking on new roles and responsibilities because of a parent’s cancer diagnosis is not something to be looked at negatively – this just fosters stigma and fear.
“Instead, I want people to recognize that cancer causes a lot of shifts in family dynamics. Children may be asked, or may volunteer, to take on additional responsibilities. This does not automatically mean that there is something wrong. My hope is to provide caregiving youth support in this role so that potential negative consequences can be minimized and that positive outcomes can be increased. I also want to help change the perspective we have toward caregiving youth, so that children in this role can be better acknowledged, understood and supported.
“Ultimately, I am thankful for my past experiences, though challenging, because they set me on a path towards nursing science, and now, I get to work towards helping make it easier for children in a similar situation.
“If you or someone you know has had a similar experience, I encourage you to reach out to me directly (bhendricks@unmc.edu). I am continually working on research projects related to caregiving youth in oncology and would welcome anyone with a desire to participate and share their experience.”
Interested in being featured? Want to suggest a fellow human of UNMC? Email Aurelie Villard in UNMC strategic communications.
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Thank you for sharing your story, Dr. Hendricks. We are so fortunate to have you growing this body of research at UNMC!
Wonderful interview! We are so impressed with Dr Hendricks in the CON.
Where is the button for “I heart this”? I want to hit it about a thousand times!
Thank you for sharing, Dr. Hendricks! So glad to have you as a colleague!
So grateful for you, Dr. Hendricks!! Thanks for sharing your experience and wisdom with us!