Self-management by older people living with cancer and multi-morbidity: a qualitative study
Self-management by older people living with cancer and multi-morbidity: a qualitative study
Purpose: over half of individuals diagnosed with cancer are aged over 70 years, and more than 75% of those with cancer report at least one other medical condition. Having multiple conditions alongside cancer in old age may lower functional status, greater likelihood of treatment complications and less favourable prognoses. This qualitative study explored how older people with long-term chronic conditions manage their health and meet their health-related goals after they have completed treatment for cancer.
Methods: one-to-one face-to-face qualitative interviews were conducted with 8 older people and 2 informal caregivers based in the UK. Older adults were eligible to participate if they were over 70 and had completed primary cancer treatment with curative intent and had at least one other chronic health condition. A semi-structured interview schedule developed a priori based on Shippee’s cumulative complexity model was used. We aimed to explore experiences that could influence self-management, utilisation of healthcare services and health outcomes. A framework analysis was used to describe and interpret the data.
Results: four overarching themes were identified in the analysis. These themes related to factors that influenced the everyday health-related workload and capacity of the participants. These factors included their health, resources, and opportunities, as well their motivation and sense of perceived control over their lives.
Conclusions: fragmented healthcare systems and relationships with healthcare professionals also influenced the participants’ self-management of their health. Our findings highlight the interaction between an individuals’ needs, capacity, treatment burden, and the services and resources available to them. These findings support calls to promote person-centred care to better support older adults to manage their health.
Cancer survivorship, Complex conditions, Late effects, Multimorbidity, Older adults, Qualitative research
4823-4833
Corbett, Teresa
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Lee, Kellyn
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Cummings, Amanda
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Calman, Lynn
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Farrington, Naomi
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Lewis, Lucy
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Young, Alexandra
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Richardson, Alison
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Foster, Claire
00786ac1-bd47-4aeb-a0e2-40e058695b73
Bridges, Jackie
57e80ebe-ee5f-4219-9bbc-43215e8363cd
June 2022
Corbett, Teresa
bce81837-17ae-46c3-a6b1-43a7e1f07f9c
Lee, Kellyn
4f9cd477-30bc-4e0c-ba31-a8e5d4627afc
Cummings, Amanda
7c5f6bd2-979b-456d-9368-8edd13c06691
Calman, Lynn
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Farrington, Naomi
ba8e905c-862b-4609-b0cc-9e27218de542
Lewis, Lucy
918f5470-d2bb-4b93-a58c-2406e115f3e9
Young, Alexandra
cd1a36bc-a2f9-4c84-9649-258f5ca7e031
Richardson, Alison
3db30680-aa47-43a5-b54d-62d10ece17b7
Foster, Claire
00786ac1-bd47-4aeb-a0e2-40e058695b73
Bridges, Jackie
57e80ebe-ee5f-4219-9bbc-43215e8363cd
Corbett, Teresa, Lee, Kellyn, Cummings, Amanda, Calman, Lynn, Farrington, Naomi, Lewis, Lucy, Young, Alexandra, Richardson, Alison, Foster, Claire and Bridges, Jackie
(2022)
Self-management by older people living with cancer and multi-morbidity: a qualitative study.
Supportive Care in Cancer, 30 (6), .
(doi:10.1007/s00520-022-06892-z).
Abstract
Purpose: over half of individuals diagnosed with cancer are aged over 70 years, and more than 75% of those with cancer report at least one other medical condition. Having multiple conditions alongside cancer in old age may lower functional status, greater likelihood of treatment complications and less favourable prognoses. This qualitative study explored how older people with long-term chronic conditions manage their health and meet their health-related goals after they have completed treatment for cancer.
Methods: one-to-one face-to-face qualitative interviews were conducted with 8 older people and 2 informal caregivers based in the UK. Older adults were eligible to participate if they were over 70 and had completed primary cancer treatment with curative intent and had at least one other chronic health condition. A semi-structured interview schedule developed a priori based on Shippee’s cumulative complexity model was used. We aimed to explore experiences that could influence self-management, utilisation of healthcare services and health outcomes. A framework analysis was used to describe and interpret the data.
Results: four overarching themes were identified in the analysis. These themes related to factors that influenced the everyday health-related workload and capacity of the participants. These factors included their health, resources, and opportunities, as well their motivation and sense of perceived control over their lives.
Conclusions: fragmented healthcare systems and relationships with healthcare professionals also influenced the participants’ self-management of their health. Our findings highlight the interaction between an individuals’ needs, capacity, treatment burden, and the services and resources available to them. These findings support calls to promote person-centred care to better support older adults to manage their health.
Text
Self-management by older people living with cancer and multi-morbidity
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 31 January 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 February 2022
Published date: June 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This research was funded by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) ARC Wessex. Alison Richardson is a NIHR Senior Investigator. Naomi Farrington is funded by a NIHR Clinical Lectureship (ICA-CL-2015–01-003). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Keywords:
Cancer survivorship, Complex conditions, Late effects, Multimorbidity, Older adults, Qualitative research
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 455194
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/455194
ISSN: 0941-4355
PURE UUID: 99885791-fcd9-45e2-850a-845581b6d2f5
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Date deposited: 14 Mar 2022 17:54
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 07:09
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Contributors
Author:
Teresa Corbett
Author:
Kellyn Lee
Author:
Lucy Lewis
Author:
Alexandra Young
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