Abstract
Background:
People living with advanced cancer experience functional decline and increasing difficulty participating in activities of daily living over their final year of life, consequently reducing quality of life. Palliative rehabilitation may serve to mitigate some of these challenges by optimising function. However, limited research and theory explore the rehabilitative process of adaptation amid increasing dependency, often experienced by people living with advanced cancer.
Aim:
To explore the lived experience of everyday life for working-aged adults living with advanced cancer, and how this changes over time.
Design:
A longitudinal hermeneutic phenomenological approach was employed, using in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data was analysed using inductive thematic analysis, and findings mapped against the Model of Human Occupation and illness experience literature.
Setting/participants:
Purposively sampled working-aged adults (40–64 years) with advanced cancer were recruited by a rural home care team in Western Canada.
Results:
Thirty-three in-depth interviews were conducted over 19 months with eight adults living with advanced cancer. Advanced cancer and other losses have a disruptive impact on daily life. Despite experiencing progressive functional decline, these adults intentionally sought to participate in valued everyday activities. Adaptation to ongoing deterioration occurred through engagement in daily life.
Conclusions:
Despite experiencing disruption to routines and daily life, people living with advanced cancer seek to continue doing what is important to them, albeit in a modified form. Adaptation to functional decline is an active, ongoing process and occurs through continued engagement in activities. Palliative rehabilitation can facilitate participation in everyday life.
People living with advanced cancer experience functional decline and increasing difficulty participating in activities of daily living over their final year of life, consequently reducing quality of life. Palliative rehabilitation may serve to mitigate some of these challenges by optimising function. However, limited research and theory explore the rehabilitative process of adaptation amid increasing dependency, often experienced by people living with advanced cancer.
Aim:
To explore the lived experience of everyday life for working-aged adults living with advanced cancer, and how this changes over time.
Design:
A longitudinal hermeneutic phenomenological approach was employed, using in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data was analysed using inductive thematic analysis, and findings mapped against the Model of Human Occupation and illness experience literature.
Setting/participants:
Purposively sampled working-aged adults (40–64 years) with advanced cancer were recruited by a rural home care team in Western Canada.
Results:
Thirty-three in-depth interviews were conducted over 19 months with eight adults living with advanced cancer. Advanced cancer and other losses have a disruptive impact on daily life. Despite experiencing progressive functional decline, these adults intentionally sought to participate in valued everyday activities. Adaptation to ongoing deterioration occurred through engagement in daily life.
Conclusions:
Despite experiencing disruption to routines and daily life, people living with advanced cancer seek to continue doing what is important to them, albeit in a modified form. Adaptation to functional decline is an active, ongoing process and occurs through continued engagement in activities. Palliative rehabilitation can facilitate participation in everyday life.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1210-1221 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Palliative Medicine |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Early online date | 13 Jun 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship (Julie Brose). Julie Brose’s time is supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West), United Kingdom.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
Keywords
- Palliative Care
- Cancer
- Rehabilitation
- Qualitative research
- Quality of life
- Occupational Therapy
- End of life care
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