TY - JOUR
T1 - Disrupted lives and threats to identity
T2 - The experiences of people with colorectal cancer within the first year following diagnosis
AU - Hubbard, Gill
AU - Kidd, Lisa
AU - Kearney, Nora
N1 - © The Author(s) 2010.
PY - 2010/3
Y1 - 2010/3
N2 - In this article we focus on the experiences of 18 people with colorectal cancer, involved in a large longitudinal qualitative study to explore people’s experiences of cancer within the first year following diagnosis. Three depth interviews over the course of the year were carried out. During analysis, we drew on biographically informed approaches of understanding chronic illness, particularly the work of Bury and Charmaz, to explore the extent to which people within the first year following diagnosis experience cancer as biographically disruptive. We explore the biographical work that individuals carry out in the context of an assault on their identity and discuss the relevance of the concept biographical disruption for people who experience cancer as an acute, chronic and/or life-threatening condition. We also discuss the concept’s relevance for people who have lived a hard life and, hence, may anticipate these types of disruptions in their lives and experience their impact differently. We conclude that universal application of the concept biographical disruption to the experience of cancer within the first year of diagnosis is not appropriate. This study has implications for cancer services, in particular, the findings call for the development of interventions to support those people who experience cancer as an assault on their identity.
AB - In this article we focus on the experiences of 18 people with colorectal cancer, involved in a large longitudinal qualitative study to explore people’s experiences of cancer within the first year following diagnosis. Three depth interviews over the course of the year were carried out. During analysis, we drew on biographically informed approaches of understanding chronic illness, particularly the work of Bury and Charmaz, to explore the extent to which people within the first year following diagnosis experience cancer as biographically disruptive. We explore the biographical work that individuals carry out in the context of an assault on their identity and discuss the relevance of the concept biographical disruption for people who experience cancer as an acute, chronic and/or life-threatening condition. We also discuss the concept’s relevance for people who have lived a hard life and, hence, may anticipate these types of disruptions in their lives and experience their impact differently. We conclude that universal application of the concept biographical disruption to the experience of cancer within the first year of diagnosis is not appropriate. This study has implications for cancer services, in particular, the findings call for the development of interventions to support those people who experience cancer as an assault on their identity.
KW - Colorectal cancer
KW - Biographical disruption
KW - Identity
U2 - 10.1177/1363459309353294
DO - 10.1177/1363459309353294
M3 - Article
SN - 1363-4593
VL - 14
SP - 131
EP - 146
JO - Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine
JF - Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine
IS - 2
ER -