The lived experiences of adolescents with cancer (original) (raw)
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The Lived Experiences of Adolescents with Cancer the Lived Experiences of Adolescents with Cancer
2009
People often do not want to hear, talk or read about cancer. Cancer is arguably one of the most feared illnesses and maybe rightly so for it is usually associated with pain, fear, uncertainty, anxiety, long uncomfortable treatments and death. To receive a diagnosis of cancer must be absolutely devastating especially when you are in a developmental stage where you are already battling with issues such as self-esteem, body image, independence and career choices. The current study explored the lived experiences of adolescents who have or had cancer and how this experience impacted on their lives. Six adolescent cancer patients from the cancer unit in a public hospital were interviewed. The sample was purposively drawn and the majority of the interviews were conducted at the homes of the participants. Phenomenology was used both as a theoretical framework as well as a means of analysing data. Using the descriptive phenomenological method employed by Giorgi, four essential themes emerged from the data. The themes included (1) Unexpected change of everyday life means experiencing the unfamiliar (2) Experiencing a changed body, (3) Experiencing the support of significant others and (4) Anticipating a future. The themes were explained in terms of the four existentials of Van Manen which is lived space, lived body, lived other and lived time. The study revealed that although the initial diagnosis of cancer came as a shock to the participants and their families, they were able to deal with the iv inevitable changes that accompanied the diagnosis mainly as a result of the support they received from family and friends. Their initial fear of death were replaced with an ardent pursue of their dreams for the future. November 2009 v DECLARATION I declare that The lived experiences of adolescents with cancer is my own work, that it has not been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged as complete references.
Teenagers Who Coexist With Cancer
Cancer Nursing, 2019
Background: The experiences of teenagers with cancer are related to falling ill, receiving treatment, and the way they exist in the world. The understanding of the meaning of teenagers coexisting with cancer must be placed in the social context with the teenagers at the core. Objective: By using an interpretive ethnographic research method, this study applied the body perception view of Merleau-Ponty to how teenagers with cancer understand self through the body in a social and cultural context. Methods: Participant observation and individual semistructured interviews of 18 teenagers diagnosed with cancer were conducted over a 20-month period. Results: The illness experience of teenagers undergoing chemotherapy was described as self-integration. Five themes emerged: boundary ambiguity of body, medical equipment as part of the body, confined body space, from self-dissociation toward self-integration, and healing power formed by self and others. Conclusion: In the face of the adjustments of body disorder, the teenagers with cancer initiated motility of the body, self-displacement, and integration in order to regain control of the body. Implications for Practice: The provision of correct disease knowledge to strengthen teenagers' understanding and their sense of mastery of their bodies throughout the participation in their cancer treatment is essential. Discussions on making decisions, self-management, and social identification are related to the relationship between body and self as well as between healthcare and otherness. Providing culture and social sensitivity support systems and resources to teenagers and families can strengthen them to face the disease and promote positive healing. T he experience of teenagers with cancer related to falling ill, the subsequent treatment process, and the associated changes to their bodies all effect the self-image of these teenagers and the way they exist in the world. 1-4 The exploration of cultural and psychological phenomenon of the disease includes the significance of the symptoms and diseases at an individual
The Scientific World Journal, 2014
The qualitative research method of interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to explore the lived experience of 14 Jordanian adolescents with haematological malignancies. They were admitted to two hospitals in Jordan and were interviewed for this study twice during the first six months after receiving their diagnosis. The results of this study revealed three themes: (1) Being in hospital, (2) The changing self, and (3) Fearing the unknown. When the participants were hospitalised due to their illness they were removed from their families and friends and prevented from engaging in their normal daily routine. Participants also reported receiving limited emotional and psychological support from health team members during hospitalisation. From the onset of cancer treatments, the bio-psychosocial side effects of the chemotherapy became one of the most distressing factors for participants affecting all aspects of their life and generated uncertainty about their future. The findings a...
Coping experiences of adolescents with cancer: a qualitative study
Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2009
Title Coping experiences of adolescents with cancer: a qualitative study. Aim. This paper is a report of a study of the coping experiences of Taiwanese adolescents with cancer. Background. Cancer treatments have adverse effects and negatively affect adolescents' lives. Psychological coping strategies are antecedents to adjustment. Little is known about the essential structure of the coping experience in adolescents with cancer. Method. Ten adolescents aged 12-18 years who were receiving chemotherapy were interviewed in 2007. Open-ended interviews were conducted in a quiet in-hospital setting. Interview data were analysed using Giorgi's four-step procedures. Findings. The essential structures of the coping experience were losing confidence and rebuilding hope. Losing confidence included sub-themes of physical and psychological suffering; rebuilding hope included sub-themes of thought restructuring, revaluing what I have, and envisioning hopeful images of the future. Interviewees vacillated between moving on and giving up, depending on the strength of their hope. A focus on rebuilding hope helped the adolescents to move on in the midst of many distressful events. Conclusion. Understanding adolescents' coping processes relative to cancer can facilitate the establishment of a more supportive milieu. The findings can provide guidance for instrument development on coping for adolescents with cancer and be useful in guiding intervention development to promote positive psychological adjustment.
Adolescents’ Experiences When Living With a Parent With Cancer: A Qualitative Study
Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, 2016
Cancer affects not only the patient but also their entire family, especially adolescents. Adolescents whose parents are ill may manifest their distress through changes in school performance, physical complaints of pain and discomfort, as well as changes in social and interpersonal relations. There has been very little research about the effects of cancer on adolescents in Iran. Objectives: The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the Iranian adolescents' experiences when living with a parent with cancer. Patients and Methods: In this research, the descriptive-explorative approach was used. There were a total of 27 participants. Purposeful sampling was used and data collection methods were semi-structured deep interviews. Constant comparative analysis was used to study the data. Results: The findings of this study showed that the main experiences of these adolescents were categorized into seven themes: 1psychological problems of adolescents; 2-supportive-educative needs; 3-cancer as a two edged sword in family relationships; 4-stages of confrontation with the parent's cancer; 5-effect of cancer on social dimensions; 6-affective and helpful supportive agents; 7-Need of support for education under special conditions. Conclusions: This research showed that Iranian adolescents had the same experiences as other adolescents in other countries in many aspects yet in some issues, such as religious strategy, they had strong religious beliefs that would help them cope with their parents' cancer. Also it was shown that we must plan a program in which education and support should be provided to enable adolescents to cope with this detrimental situation with minimal disruption.
Pediatric Blood & Cancer, 2020
Background: Cancer diagnoses pose challenges to adolescents' and young adults' (AYA) physical, mental, and emotional health, and developmental tasks. In order for AYAs, caregivers, clinicians, and other collaborators to optimize health outcomes (coproduction of health), understanding what living well means for AYAs who have experienced cancer is necessary. The objective was to develop an empirical definition of "living well" for AYAs who have experienced cancer to broadly understand AYA values and priorities. This definition may ultimately guide future conversations between caregivers and AYAs, eliciting thorough, personal definitions of living well from individual AYAs. Such conversations may enhance AYA participation in coproducing their health. Procedure: Qualitative analysis using a phenomenological approach of N = 30 structured Respecting Choices interviews conducted with AYAs (14-21 years; mean 84.2 [SD 69] months postcancer diagnosis with 21% on active treatment) from four tertiary pediatric hospitals in the context of a primary study of a pediatric advance care planning intervention trial.