“It takes a village to get through cancer,” A photo-elicitation study exploring lived experiences of community cancer survivors

2020 ◽  
pp. 030802262095300
Author(s):  
Katie M Polo ◽  
Gabrielle Ingram ◽  
Tamzyn Mather ◽  
Amy Ragle ◽  
Nicole Scholl ◽  
...  

Introduction Cancer survivors continue to experience complications that last months to years following diagnosis and treatment, which can impact daily life. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of adult community cancer survivors related to daily activities and occupational performance. Method Phenomenology study design and photo-elicitation were utilized to blend photos and words. Thirteen adult survivors were recruited from a community-based cancer support organization. Open coding, axial and in vivo coding, and constant comparative analysis were utilized to analyze data and achieve conceptual saturation. Results Participants experienced a shift in cultural context, wherein they took on a new context defined by their cancer survivorship. This context shift is dynamic and interconnected to the sub-themes of distress, changes in perspectives, and side effects that all ultimately influence occupational performance and engagement. The cultural context shift supported participants’ ability to engage in new, meaningful occupations, supported their new identity, and ultimately created a sense of support and belonging. Conclusion Occupational therapists have a unique position to assist with the adjustment process during this cultural context shift and provide interventions in cancer support communities to assure cancer survivors’ continued performance and engagement in meaningful activities.

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-49
Author(s):  
Tzu-Hui Chen

This narrative aims to explore the meaning and lived experiences of marriage that a unique immigrant population—“foreign brides” in Taiwan—possesses. This convergence narrative illustrates the dynamics and complexity of mail-order marriage and women's perseverance in a cross-cultural context. The relationship between marriage, race, and migration is analyzed. This narrative is comprised of and intertwined by two story lines. One is the story of two “foreign brides” in Taiwan. The other is my story about my cross-cultural relationship. All the dialogues are generated by 25 interviews of “foreign brides” in Taiwan and my personal experience.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Janusz ◽  
Sofie Six ◽  
Dominique Vanneste

Purpose In a current trend of a growing amount of short city trips, it becomes crucial to understand how local residents perceive the presence of tourists and tourism in their cities and how their socio-cultural context influences those perceptions. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this understanding which will enable the city planners to take actions to create the well-balanced and resilient communities in which the needs of residents and tourists are equally met. Design/methodology/approach To understand residents’ perceptions’ about tourism in Bruges, this research applied photo-elicitation interviews with 28 residents who lived in various locations in the historical center to understand socio-cultural background of residents, their tourism-related concerns and whether they are in line with what is commonly perceived as problematic in Bruges. Findings Results show that as long as residents can benefit from tourism and tourism-related infrastructure, they support tourism. On the other hand, tourism decreases the liveability of the historical center due to supersession of infrastructure serving the residents by tourist-oriented amenities. Practical implications To build a sustainable and resilient city in the future, the authorities of Bruges should cease further “museumification” of the historical city by breaking the hegemony of tourism industry, providing affordable housing and rethinking the concentration model of tourism. Originality/value The photo-elicitation method proved to produce rich content and good-quality data by stimulating respondents’ memories and evoking experiences and emotions. Thus, this paper recommends that future research about residents’ attitudes is developed around visual methods as they give voice to the residents and are able to uncover issues which are difficult to capture with other methods.


Pain Medicine ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1202-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abigail J Rolbiecki ◽  
Michelle Teti ◽  
Benjamin Crenshaw ◽  
Joseph W LeMaster ◽  
Jeff Ordway ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. E14-23
Author(s):  
Sophie Marcoux, MD, PhD Marcoux ◽  
Caroline Laverdière

Purpose: The majority of childhood cancer survivors suffer from late adverse effects after the completion of treatment. The prospect of most survivors reaching middle-age is a relatively new phenomenon, and the ways by which current and future primary care physicians (PCPs) will address this novel public health challenge are uncertain. Methods: A survey assessing knowledge level and information delivery preferences regarding long-term follow-up guidelines for adult patients having survived a childhood cancer was distributed by e-mail through the Quebec (Canada) national associations of PCPs and residents (n=238). Results: Participants reported an estimated average of 2.9 ± 1.9 cancer survivors in their yearly caseload, and only 35.3% recalled having provided services to at least one survivor in the last year. Most participants indicated ignoring validated follow-up guidelines for these patients (average score 1.66 on a Likert scale from “1—totally disagreeing” to “5—totally agreeing”). Scarce access to personalized follow-up guidelines and lack of clinical exposure to cancer survivors were identified as main obstacles in providing optimal care to these patients (respective averages of 1.66 and 1.84 on a Likert scale from “1— is a major obstacle” to “5—is not an obstacle at all”). Conclusion: The PCPs and residents rarely provide care for childhood cancer adult survivors. On an individual basis, there is a clear need for increased awareness, education and collaboration regarding long-term care of childhood cancer adult survivors during medical training. On a more global basis, structural, organizational and cultural changes are also needed to ensure adequate care transition.


2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana J. Willemse ◽  
Elma W. Kortenbout

The practice of community health nursing (CHN) may enhance the life experiences of families and communities, particularly amongst the poor and socially marginalised. CHN provides for a deeper understanding of the health status of families living within communities, for example, where and how they live, their cultural context and their ability to identify resources available to assist with their health care (Allender, Rector & Warner 2010:17).This qualitative phenomenological study reflects on the self-reported lived experiences of undergraduate CHN students at the University of the Western Cape in the City of Cape Town, South Africa. These students conducted a family health assessment (FHA) learning task at the homes of families within communities.Purposive and convenience sampling was used by students who had conducted an FHA. Fourteen students agreed to participate in the study, of whom nine were interviewed, two withdrew and the remaining three were not interviewed since no new data were emerging during interviews, indicating that saturation had been reached.During in-depth interviews with seven female and two male students, data for the exploration of the lived experiences was gathered through the following question: ‘How did you experience the FHA?’ Field notes were taken and used to capture non-verbal communication of participants. The focus of the study was to explore the lived experiences of students and not those of the family on whom the FHA was completed.Data collected were categorised into themes, guided by the systematic data analysis process of Tesch (1990) cited in Cresswell (2003:192). Four themes emerged: challenges of family selection, challenges of safety, socio-cultural challenges and academic challenges experienced by the participants. This study will inform future research and curriculum planning for CHN education in a multifaceted context.OpsommingDie praktyk van gemeenskapsgesondheidverpleging (GGV) het die potentiaal om die lewenservaringe van families en gemeenskappe te verryk, veral in arm en voorheen benadeelde gemeenskappe. GGV verskaf ‘n dieper begrip met betrekking tot die welstand van families in hulle gemeenskappe, byvoorbeeld, waar en hoe hulle leef, hul kultuur en hulle vermoë om beskikbare hulpbronne te identifiseer om sodoende hulle gesondheid te bevorder (Allender, Rector & Warner 2010:17).Hierdie kwalitatiewe fenomonologiese studie is ʼn refleksie op die self-gerapporteerde persoonlike ervaringe van voorgraadse gemeenskapsgesondheidverpleging studente (VGVS) verbonde aan die Universiteit van Wes Kaapland, in Kaapstad, Suid-Afrika. Hierdie studente het as ʼn werksopdrag ʼn familie gesondheidsberaming (FGB) by wonings van gesinne in die gemeenskap voltooi.ʼn Gerieflikheids- en doelgerigte steekproefneming is gedoen met studente wat die FGB voltooi het. Veertien studente het ingestem om aan die studie deel te neem, waarvan daar onderhoude met nege gevoer is. Twee studente het onttrek en die oorblywende drie is nie genader nie weens die feit dat daar geen nuwe data na vore gekom het nie, wat daarop dui dat saturasie bereik was.Data vir die verkenning van persoonlike ervaringe is deur in-diepte onderhoude met sewe vroulike en twee manlike studente ingesamel deur die volgende vraag te vra: ‘Wat was jou ervaring met die voltooing van die FGB?’ Veldnotas was geneem om nie-verbale kommunikasie van die studente aan te teken. Die fokus van die studie was gerig om die persoonlike ervarings van die VGVS te verken met verwysing na die FGB wat hulle voltooi het. Die fokus was nie gerig op die ondervindinge van die familie op wie die FGB gedoen is nie.Die ingesamelde data is in temas gekategoriseer volgens die sistematiese data analitiese proses van Tesch (1990), soos omskryf in Cresswell (2003:192). Vier temas is geïdentifiseer naamlik: uitdagings ten opsigte van die keuring van ‘n geskikte familie: uitdagings ten opsigte van veiligheid, sosiokulturele uitdagings en akademiese uitdagings soos ervaar is deur die deelnemende studente. Die belangrikheid van die studie is om toekomstige navorsing en kurrikulumbeplanning in gemeenskapsgesondheidverpleging binne ‘n diverse konteks te bevorder.


Surgery ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha J. Rivard ◽  
C. Ann Vitous ◽  
Michaela C. Bamdad ◽  
Alisha Lussiez ◽  
Maia S. Anderson ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Cosmin Ionut Nada ◽  
Helena Costa Araújo

Non-English-speaking countries are attracting burgeoning numbers of foreign students, yet research regarding these students' experiences remains rather scarce. In line with global tendencies, Portuguese universities are seeing substantial growth in foreign student enrolment. This paper addresses the lived experiences of foreign students in the period following their arrival in a new cultural context, discussing the role that language and social support play in their adaptation. Rooted in a narrative approach, this paper is based on 41 indepth biographic interviews. The findings indicate that the ways in which students deal with the challenges of living and studying in a foreign country are highly diverse. Nevertheless, a universal aspect of their narratives is the central role assumed by social support. Although social support has beneficial outcomes for foreign students' adaptation, if provided inadequately it can lead to less positive outcomes and even to marginalization.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 618-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wonshik Chee ◽  
Yaelim Lee ◽  
Eun-Ok Im ◽  
Eunice Chee ◽  
Hsiu-Min Tsai ◽  
...  

Introduction The necessity of culturally competent Internet Cancer Support Groups (ICSGs) for ethnic minorities has recently been highlighted in order to increase its attractiveness and usage. The purpose of this study was to determine the preliminary efficacy of a culturally tailored registered-nurse-moderated ICSG for Asian American breast cancer survivors in enhancing the women’s breast cancer survivorship experience. Methods The study included two phases: (a) a usability test and an expert review; and (b) a randomized controlled pilot intervention study. The usability test was conducted among five Asian American breast cancer survivors using a one-month online forum, and the expert review was conducted among five experts using the Cognitive Walkthrough method. The randomized controlled pilot intervention study (a pre-test and post-test design) was conducted among 65 Asian American breast cancer survivors. The data were analysed using content analysis and descriptive and inferential statistics including the repeated ANOVA. Results All users and experts positively evaluated the program and provided their suggestions for the display, educational contents, and user-friendly structure. There were significant positive changes in the support care needs and physical and psychological symptoms ( p < 0.05) of the control group. There were significant negative changes in the uncertainty level of the intervention group ( p < 0.10). Controlling for background and disease factors, the intervention group showed significantly greater improvements than the control group in physical and psychological symptoms and quality of life ( p < 0.10). Discussion The findings supported the positive effects of ICSGs on support care needs, psychological and physical symptoms, and quality of life.


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