Activities as resources when living with advanced cancer (original) (raw)
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Palliative and Supportive Care, 2010
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Aesthetic Engagements: “Being” in Everyday Life With Advanced Cancer
American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine, 2012
Living with advanced cancer can present an overwhelming challenge. It may impact the everyday life of the individual with respect to an array of psychological, physical, social, and existential issues. We focus on ways in which people with advanced cancer experience and use their engagement in daily activities when confronting nearing death. Through a phenomenological analysis based on Heidegger’s thinking,
Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2005
Objective-The aim of this study was to discover and characterize components of engagement in creative activity as occupational therapy for elderly people dealing with life-threatening illness, from the perspective of both clients and therapists. Despite a long tradition of use in clinical interventions, key questions remain little addressed concerning how and why people seek these activities and the kinds of benefits that may result. Method-Qualitative interviews were conducted with 8 clients and 7 therapists participating in creative workshops using crafts at a nursing home in Sweden. Analysis of the interviews was conducted using a constant comparative method. Findings-Engaging in creative activity served as a medium that enabled creation of connections to wider culture and daily life that counters consequences of terminal illness, such as isolation. Creating connections to life was depicted as the core category, carried out in reference to three subcategories: (1) a generous receptive environment identified as the foundation for engaging in creative activity; (2) unfolding creations-an evolving process; (3) reaching beyond for possible meaning horizons. Conclusion-The findings suggest that the domain of creative activity can enable the creation of connections to daily life and enlarge the experience of self as an active person, in the face of uncertain life-threatening illness. Ultimately, the features that participants specify can be used to refine and substantiate the use of creative activities in intervention and general healthcare.
The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2007
Why do some women turn to creative art-making after a diagnosis of cancer? Eleven women provided qualitative accounts that were analyzed following guidelines for interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Some described taking up artistic leisure activities initially in order to manage emotional distress. Others emphasized their need for positive well-being, taking up art to experience achievement and satisfaction, to regain a positive identity, and to normalize family dynamics in the context of living with cancer. Participants' turn to art-making was facilitated by biographical and contextual factors, including pre-existing craft skills, long-standing personal values and coping philosophies, family role models for managing adversity, and the supportive encouragement of family and friends. Other research has acknowledged that positive lifestyle change and post-traumatic growth can occur after a cancer diagnosis, and this study reveals a multi-faceted process. The findings suggest a need for further research into the experiences that facilitate positive lifestyle change and subjective well-being among people who are living with cancer.
How older people with incurable cancer experience daily living: A qualitative study from Norway
Palliative & supportive care, 2014
Objective: An increasing number of older people are living with incurable cancer as a chronic disease, requiring palliative care from specialized healthcare for shorter or longer periods of time. The aim of our study was to describe how they experience daily living while receiving palliative care in specialized healthcare contexts. Method: We conducted a qualitative research study with a phenomenological approach called "systematic text condensation." A total of 21 participants, 12 men and 9 women, aged 70-88, took part in semistructured interviews. They were recruited from two somatic hospitals in southeastern Norway. Results: The participants experienced a strong link to life in terms of four subthemes: to acknowledge the need for close relationships; to maintain activities of normal daily life; to provide space for existential meaning-making and to name and handle decline and loss. In addition, they reported that specialized healthcare contexts strengthened the link to ...
A Case Study "A Life with and beyond Cancer
Journal of Palliative Care & Medicine, 2016
Purpose: Developing an intervention with photography to support patients in their search for a meaningful and valued life with their disease.
The burden of cancer taking a form of a chronic illness, warrants a shift in the health care delivery to address the many neglected functional impacts (physical-psychosocial and occupational dysfunctions) from cancer. Balancing the current traditional medical care (that focuses on the tumour/illness), with the essential non-medical tasks of day-today participation and self-care tasks are both needed for cancer conditions that now requires care over indefinite period. This paper aims to highlight occupational-participation as an expansion of the International Classification of Functioning (ICF)'s concept of participation, to encapsulate a holistic approach for better functional outcomes and occupational wellbeing in the emerging field of cancer survivorship. Occupational-participation, a central construct in the field of Occupational Therapy, is the person's engagement in work, play and daily living which is necessary for health and well-being. Cancer survivors can be empowered toward healthy occupational-participation to attain a healthy, 'health-after-cancer' status with a perspective of 'occupational-participation for cancer survivorship'. The model is novel and timely for addressing gap where the missing focus on occupational-rehabilitation needs can be highlighted as the seamless intervention programs for the connection to a " healthy-although-ill " living for cancer survivors.