Between illness and health
A scoping review of cancer experience through the construct of liminality
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15084790 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Thierry Mathieu (0000-0001-8502-1908, University of Geneva, corresponding author), Nicolas Favez (0000-0003-1744-7602, University of Geneva), Sarah Cairo Notari (0000-0003-2623-2881, University of Geneva) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 934-947 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-28 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Health Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1359-1053 • E-ISSN: 1461-7277 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/13591053251351807 |
| PMID | 40719191 |
| OpenAlex | W4412694347 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 33 |
Individuals affected by cancer (IAC) often oscillate between two states during or after treatment: feeling ill/cured or dying/living. This in-between state relates to liminality; however, the construct is used differently from one study to another, which creates indeterminacy. Our scoping review aims to clarify how liminality is theoretically defined and applied in psycho-oncology to describe IAC’s experiences and identify the associated concepts. We searched five databases using English and French keywords, selecting 20 peer-reviewed studies from 454 retrieved. Studies associated liminality with words such as state, space, or experience. They used often liminality in contexts involving psychological, social, or physical difficulties. Despite differences across studies, convergent points emerged. We propose a tentative definition of liminality: a state where IAC face significant difficulties following cancer experience, which persist and marginalize them until they redefine their identity. Health professionals could identify IAC in liminal states to provide appropriate support
Aesthetics · Epistemology · Feeling · Liminality · Sociology · Anthropology · Cancer survivorship and care · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues · Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare · Psychology · Social Psychology
The ritual process
Liminality in Management and Organization Studies
Posttraumatic growth
Embodiment in Attitudes, Social Perception, and Emotion
The Forest of Symbols
Liminality and Ritual in Biographical Work
Advanced Cancer in Young Adults (YAs)
The 'Schizophrenic' and the Liminal Persona in Modern Society
Between Two Worlds
Re-grounding the concept of liminality by foregrounding spatial aspects in experiences of cancer care
Liminality as a Descriptor for the Cancer Experience
Colorectal cancer survivors' adjustment to permanent colostomy in Switzerland
The existential cancer journey
Liminality as biographical disruption
Using Liminality and Subjunctivity to Better Understand How Patients With Cancer Experience Uncertainty Throughout Their Illness Trajectory
Liminal Reproductive Experiences After Therapies for Hematological Malignancy
Liminality
Physical disability and social liminality
A new normal
Am I really gonna go sixty years without getting cancer again?' Uncertainty and liminality in young women's accounts of living with a history of breast cancer
Chronic illness as biographical disruption
Seeking certainty through narrative closure
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |