Renske Kruizinga1, Najmeh Jafari2, Michael Scherer-Rath3, Hans Schilderman3, Jennifer Bires2, Christina Puchalski2, Hanneke van Laarhoven4. 1. Department of Medical Oncology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: r.kruizinga@amc.uva.nl. 2. Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, The George Washington University School of Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. 3. Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. 4. Department of Medical Oncology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract
CONTEXT: Being diagnosed with incurable cancer can be a life-changing experience, evoking different spiritual questions and needs. Confronting a serious life-threatening event occurs not only often unexpected but also can disrupt a person's self-image and ideals of their personhood. This confrontation makes it difficult for people to integrate it into their personal life story-otherwise referred to as an experience of contingency. OBJECTIVES: Different modes of relating to the contingent life event of having cancer have been studied in a Dutch patient population. Here we present an interview study in an U.S. population with advanced cancer patients. METHODS: We included eight American patients with advanced cancer from the George Washington University Cancer Center. All patients were interviewed twice discussing their life events and life goals using a semistructured interview model. All interviews were transcribed and analyzed focusing on how patients described the way they related to the experience of having advanced cancer. The constant comparative method with a directed content analysis approach was used to code the themes in the interviews. RESULTS: The analyses show that the four modes of relating to contingency that we found in the Dutch study population can also be found in an American advanced cancer patient population. Differences were found in the extended way American patients described the fourth mode of "receiving." CONCLUSION: This study ensures a broader and deeper understanding of relating to the experience of contingency in having incurable cancer, which is crucial in developing accurate spiritual care in the palliative phase of patients.
CONTEXT: Being diagnosed with incurable cancer can be a life-changing experience, evoking different spiritual questions and needs. Confronting a serious life-threatening event occurs not only often unexpected but also can disrupt a person's self-image and ideals of their personhood. This confrontation makes it difficult for people to integrate it into their personal life story-otherwise referred to as an experience of contingency. OBJECTIVES: Different modes of relating to the contingent life event of having cancer have been studied in a Dutch patient population. Here we present an interview study in an U.S. population with advanced cancerpatients. METHODS: We included eight American patients with advanced cancer from the George Washington University Cancer Center. All patients were interviewed twice discussing their life events and life goals using a semistructured interview model. All interviews were transcribed and analyzed focusing on how patients described the way they related to the experience of having advanced cancer. The constant comparative method with a directed content analysis approach was used to code the themes in the interviews. RESULTS: The analyses show that the four modes of relating to contingency that we found in the Dutch study population can also be found in an American advanced cancerpatient population. Differences were found in the extended way American patients described the fourth mode of "receiving." CONCLUSION: This study ensures a broader and deeper understanding of relating to the experience of contingency in having incurable cancer, which is crucial in developing accurate spiritual care in the palliative phase of patients.
Authors: Renske Kruizinga; Michael Scherer-Rath; Johannes Bam Schilderman; Iris D Hartog; Jacoba Pm Van Der Loos; Hantie P Kotzé; Anneke M Westermann; Heinz-Josef Klümpen; Francesco Kortekaas; Cecile Grootscholten; Frans Bossink; Jolanda Schrama; Willem Van De Vrande; Natascha Awp Schrama; Willem Blokland; Filip Yfl De Vos; Annemieke Kuin; Wim G Meijer; Martijn Gh Van Oijen; Mirjam Ag Sprangers; Hanneke Wm Van Laarhoven Journal: Palliat Med Date: 2018-12-05 Impact factor: 4.762
Authors: Yvonne Weeseman; Michael Scherer-Rath; Nirav Christophe; Henny Dörr; Zarah M Bood; Mirjam A G Sprangers; Esther Helmich; Hanneke W M van Laarhoven Journal: PLoS One Date: 2022-04-07 Impact factor: 3.240