Surr, C, Griffiths, AW, Kelley, R orcid.org/0000-0002-8838-0313 et al. (7 more authors) (2021) Navigating cancer treatment and care when living with comorbid dementia: an ethnographic study. Supportive Care in Cancer, 29 (5). pp. 2571-2579. ISSN 0941-4355
Abstract
Objectives
The risks of developing cancer and dementia increase as we age; however, this comorbidity remains relatively under-researched. This study reports on the challenges that people affected by comorbid cancer and dementia face when navigating engagement with cancer treatment within secondary care.
Materials and methods
An ethnographic study recruiting 17 people with cancer and dementia, 22 relatives and 19 oncology staff in two UK National Health Service Trusts. Observations (46 h) and informal conversations were conducted during oncology appointments involving people with dementia. Semi-structured interviews (n = 37) with people living with cancer and dementia, their relatives and staff working in various roles across oncology services were also carried out. Data were analysed using ethnographically informed thematic analysis.
Results
People with cancer and dementia experienced challenges across three areas of navigating cancer treatment and care: navigating through multiple services, appointments and layers of often complex information; repeatedly navigating transport to and from hospital; and navigating non-dementia-friendly hospital outpatient environments alongside the cognitive problems associated with dementia.
Conclusions
Dementia impacts patients’ abilities to navigate the many practical aspects of attending hospital for cancer treatment and care. This study indicates the importance of addressing ways to improve the experience of travelling to and from the hospital, alongside extending the ongoing efforts to develop ‘dementia-friendly’ hospital in-patient areas and practices, to outpatient departments. Such steps will serve to improve hospital-based cancer treatment and care and more broadly outpatient appointment experiences for people with dementia and their families.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Alzheimer’s disease; Dementia; Cancer treatment; Ethnography; Environment; Care pathways; Transport |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (Leeds) > Academic Unit of Elderly Care and Rehabilitation (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NIHR National Inst Health Research NIHR CamDem-Int |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 09 Oct 2020 11:29 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:26 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s00520-020-05735-z |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:166126 |
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