Storytelling as part of cancer rehabilitation to support cancer patients and their relatives

ABSTRACT

Previous research on psychosocial support for cancer-related concerns has primarily focused on either patients or their relatives, although limited research is available on how patients and their relatives can be supported together. The aim of this article is to explore the use of storytelling as a part of a residential cancer rehabilitation intervention for patients together with their relatives, with a specific focus on their management of cancer-related concerns. Ten pairs participated in the intervention and data were generated through ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observations, informal conversations and follow-up interviews conducted one month after completing the intervention. Analysis was performed drawing on narrative theory combined with social practice theory. The results demonstrate that the use of storytelling and metaphors intertwined with other course activities, such as dancing and arts & crafts, provided the patients and their relatives with strategies to manage cancer-related concerns, which they were later able to apply in their everyday lives. The study results may be useful to other professionals in clinical practice for rehabilitation purposes for addressing issues of fear and worry.

KEYWORDS:

• psychosocial cancer intervention
• fear of recurrence
• joint involvement
• narrative
• social practice theory
• emotional concern
• workshop activities

Acknowledgments

Our special thanks to the patients and their relatives who participated in the study. We are grateful to the staff at the Rehabilitation Center Dallund. The Danish Milieu for Humanistic Cancer Research (www.mifuhuk.dk) provided support for discussions and writing seminars, which was of value to this study.

Funding

The study was funded by the Danish Cancer Society (Grant number OKV 08008).