Identity reconstruction among older cancer survivors: Age and meaning in the context of a life-altering illness

ABSTRACT

This article evaluates how older cancer patients describe cancer survivorship and incorporate the cancer experience into long-term evaluations of health. From a series of 53 qualitative interviews with adults with histories of breast and prostate cancers and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, we analyzed age-related discussions among those 65 and older (n = 21). Emergent themes revealed the: (1) historical conceptualization of cancer, (2) changed perspective following diagnosis, (3) cancer in the context of a long biography, (4) cancer in the context of the aging body and decline, and (5) meaning of time remaining and quality of life. One important suggestion from our work, relevant to all clinicians regardless of specialty or role, is to incorporate goals for the future into individualized survivor care plans for older survivors.

KEYWORDS:

• cancer
• finitude
• life course
• older adults
• qualitative research
• survivorship

Funding

Our research was supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health (R21CA152789; K. Smith, PI) and we are extremely grateful to NCI and NIH for their support. Susan M. Hannum would additionally like to thank the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and NCI for their support of her research through the Cancer Epidemiology, Prevention, and Control Postdoctoral Training Fellowship (T32 CA009314).