Prioritising, downplaying and self-preservation: Processes significant to coping in advanced cancer patients

Thora Grothe Thomsen, Susan Rydahl Hansen, Lis Wagner

Department of Surgery, Roskilde and Koege Hospitals, Roskilde, Koege, Denmark.
Research Unit of Nursing, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Research Unit of Nursing, Institute of Clinical Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.

DOI: 10.4236/ojn.2012.22009                

Abstract

To date there has been little research that describes the relation between the individual and their environment as the foundation for the coping process in advanced cancer patients. The aim of the study was to identify and describe, from a patient perspective, processes that are significant to coping with advanced cancer. We used the method Grounded Theory as described by Strauss and Corbin. Data were generated through qualitative interviews. A total of 18 interviews were conducted. The central theme was “The struggle to be a participant in one’s own life”. This theme involved three processes: prioritising, downplaying and self-preservation, each of which in different ways endeavours to either maintain or re-establish the feeling of being a participant. The awareness of the processes complement existing knowledge about coping in advanced cancer patients, by showing how patients make use of meaning-based coping efforts to increase their experience of being a participant in their own lives.

Keywords

Cancer; Coping and Adaptation; Palliative Care; Grounded Theory

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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