The Young Adults Experiences as Cancer Survivors: a Hermeneutic Phenomenology Research

• Main Authors: Fang Ko-Cheng, 方格正
• Other Authors: Li Pei-Yi
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/31281684169108354766

博士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 教育心理與輔導學系 === 102 === Young adulthood is a transitional time in life circle when crucial decisions are made that could influence a person’s future, and having cancer makes the tasks even more challenging. Although increasing literatures have identified the unique psychological issues and the late effects of young cancer survivors, the attention to young people’s survivorship in Taiwan is still limited. The objective of this qualitative research is using hermeneutic phenomenology to understand young adults experience as cancer survivors in Taiwan. Five participants were recruited from a cancer bulletin board. They were diagnosed and treated during age 19 to 26, and were interviewed 5 to 10 years after their treatments. Three of them were diagnosed with lymphoma, the rest were diagnosed with leukemia and breast cancer. We conduct a qualitative analysis to explore the understanding of the meaning in the text and to identify the main themes. Seven main themes were identified that reflected survivors’ understanding of the impact of cancer in young adulthood: (1) having cancer as a boundary situation, (2) the interruption and resumption of life, (3) the impact on intimate relationship and marriage, (4) survivorship and self-identity, (5) the help from the cancer bulletin billboard, (6) the strength of inner speech, and (7) young adults create their own meaning of life with cancer. This research helps us to recognize the challenge of the young cancer survivors, to appreciate their strength and resilience, and to understand their subjectivity as their own meaning makers.