Disrupted lives and threats to identity: The experiences of people with colorectal cancer within the first year following diagnosis

Gill Hubbard (Lead / Corresponding author), Lisa Kidd, Nora Kearney

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

73 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)131-146
Number of pages16
JournalHealth: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine
Volume14
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2010

Keywords

  • Colorectal cancer
  • Biographical disruption
  • Identity

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