Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov;30(11):1957-1964.
doi: 10.1002/pon.5769. Epub 2021 Jul 27.

Conflicting demands, coping, and adjustment: A grounded theory to understand rehabilitation processes in long-term breast cancer survivors

Kati Hiltrop  1   2 , Paula Heidkamp  1   2 , Clara Breidenbach  3 , Christoph Kowalski  3 , Marco Streibelt  4 , Nicole Ernstmann  1   2
Affiliations

Conflicting demands, coping, and adjustment: A grounded theory to understand rehabilitation processes in long-term breast cancer survivors

Kati Hiltrop et al. Psychooncology. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: This study explores rehabilitation processes in long-term cancer survivors (CSs) and explains the causes, contexts, and consequences under which decisions related to rehabilitation are made.

Methods: Within the mixed-methods Breast Cancer Patients' Return to Work (B-CARE) project, conducted from 2018-2020, data were collected through a written survey and semi-structured interviews with CSs 5-6 years after their diagnosis. In total, 184 female CSs participated in the survey, and 26 were interviewed. A qualitative grounded theory approach was applied.

Results: The 26 interviewees were 57 years old on average, 70% were married, and 65% had children. The participants experienced incompatibilities caused by the cancer disease in their areas of life and the demands that arose from it. To reconcile demands from the areas family, work, leisure time, household, and disease, the interviewed CSs used different coping mechanisms and adjusted their lives by prioritizing certain areas as a consequence. This prioritizing was often to the detriment of work and rehabilitation. Furthermore, it worked as a barrier for participation in rehabilitation programs and explains why CSs experienced job changes after their return to work.

Conclusions: Physical and mental long-term effects were observed in the interviewees' lives 5-6 years into survival. The study results stress the importance of individualized and needs-oriented survivorship care.

Keywords: cancer; cancer survivorship; coping; grounded theory; oncology; psycho-oncology; qualitative; rehabilitation; return to work.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund. Reha-Bericht 2018. Die medizinische und berufliche Rehabilitation der Rentenversicherung im Licht der Statistik. 2018.
    1. Ferlay J, Ervik M, Lam F, et al. Global Cancer Observatory. Cancer Today. International Agency for Research on Cancer. https://gco.iarc.fr/today
    1. Arndt V, Koch-Gallenkamp L, Bertram H, et al. Return to work after cancer. A multi-regional population-based study from Germany. Acta Oncologica. 2019;58(5):811-818. https://doi.org/10.1080/0284186X.2018.1557341
    1. Hiltrop K, Heidkamp P, Halbach S, et al. Occupational rehabilitation of male breast cancer patients: return patterns, motives, experiences, and implications-A qualitative study. Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2021;30(4):e13402. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecc.13402
    1. Stergiou-Kita M, Grigorovich A, Tseung V, et al. Qualitative meta-synthesis of survivors' work experiences and the development of strategies to facilitate return to work. J Cancer Surviv. 2014;8(4):657-670. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-014-0377-z

Publication types

Associated data

LinkOut - more resources