Capturing the financial hardship of cancer in military adolescent and young adult patients: A conceptual framework

Abstract

Objective

Examine whether an existing conceptual framework for understanding financial hardship following a cancer diagnosis captures experiences among military adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients.

Methodological approach

Investigators conducted focus groups and key informant interviews (n = 24) with active-duty military AYA cancer patients, their spouses, cancer care providers, and commanders at a military medical center and military post.

Findings

Content analysis and thematic abstraction revealed that military AYA cancer patients’ experiences of financial hardship occur within material, psychosocial, and behavioral domains that are situated within the contextual influences of AYA development and military culture. Subsequently, investigators constructed an expanded conceptual framework for understanding the financial hardship of cancer to capture these contexts.

Conclusion

Differentiating experiences of financial hardship into material, psychosocial, and behavioral domains situated within life course development and occupational culture contexts, may inform development of interventions with aspects of financial hardship most impacted by cancer care.

Keywords:

• adolescent and young adult
• cancer
• financial hardship
• military
• oncology
• psychosocial

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all participants in our study. We wish to acknowledge the instrumental support of Jeffrey L. Berenberg, MD, MACP, RTD.COL, USA and Matthew S. Garrido, MSW, LCSW, LTC, USA at Tripler Army Medical Center and Schofield Barracks in Honolulu, Hawai'i. We also thank Rachel Savereux, MSW; Katherine Wear, MSW; and Brian Yi, MSW at the University of Hawai'i for their assistance with transcription. The views expressed in this abstract/manuscript are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the US Government.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

B.N.T. was supported by the Nathan Schnaper Intern Program funded in part through NCI grant R25CA186872 to Bret A. Hassel.