Moving the bars further forward and stretching you out will allow you to spread the forces from your weight on the hands. Wider bars will be a mistake, IMO. As they will just brace you from the swaying movement of your body and put all that force into your shoulders instead of letting it be shared by other parts of your body.

Possibly you didn't really want a hybrid bike. For a better and more upright sitting position, you should get a cruiser style bike with a very slack seat tube and swept back bars.