Acting Independently While Living Alone

The Strategies and Struggles of Cancer Patients

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4669441
AutoresCharlotte Benoot (0000-0003-2419-1318, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium), Reginald Deschepper (0000-0002-4222-3945, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium), Maria Grypdonck (0000-0001-5696-6873, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium), Marlies Saelaert (0000-0002-3607-1578, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium), Johan Bilsen (0000-0001-8371-4612, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium)
Ano2015
Volume25
Fascículo8
Páginas1033-1043
Data de publicação2015-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1049732315590402
PMID26063606
OpenAlexW2141663852
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas25

Cancer patients who live alone place specific importance on acting independently during treatment. We want to describe what it means to act independently and which strategies patients use to continue to act independently. We used a qualitative design, based on grounded theory. We interviewed 32 patients, 17 of them a second time. Patients who live alone defined acting independently in two different ways: It meant not only doing things alone but also using the help of others in a controlled way. These two meanings lead to two types of strategies. As treatment evolves, patients needed to change their preferred type of strategies to continue acting independently. Succeeding to change led to a feeling of mastery and success. However, failing to change led to struggling, whereby patients' needs became invisible. Health care providers should anticipate patients' inability to change strategies during cancer treatment, thereby preventing the patient's struggle from only becoming visible during crisis

Feeling · Grounded theory · Psychotherapist · Qualitative research · Sociology · Cancer survivorship and care · Family Support in Illness · Medicine · Nursing · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues · Psychology · Social Psychology