Tips on eating for patients with advanced cancer: findings from an exploratory study

Description/Abstract

Background: Internationally there is interest in supporting self-management, as a way of
helping people to live with illness. One way of supporting self-management is to offer
information that can widen choices available to patients. Yet little research based evidence is
available to underpin information made available to people with advanced cancer who are
experiencing eating difficulties.
Method: The primary research was an in-depth multi-method exploration of weight loss and
eating difficulties in people with advanced cancer. The patient participants were receiving
palliative home care in the South of England in 2003. Methods of data collection included
semi-structured interviews with 30 purposively selected patients. A topic explored was change
in food preferences and what patients found helpful when living with these changes. A
secondary content and thematic analysis was conducted on this data about food intake.
Findings: The 30 patients described many changes in their food intake as problematic.
Difficulties arose in consequence of change in, ‘the desire to eat’, ‘taste’, ‘texture’ and ‘smell’.
Collectively the patients were able to suggest different ways of adapting to and living with
altered preferences for food. This paper will present these as ‘tips on eating for patients with
advanced cancer’.
Conclusions: The research has collated patient experiences to develop the first package of
tips on eating for people with advanced cancer. Further research is needed to find out if this
information, when offered as support to patients, helps them to self-manage any eating
difficulties they experience.