Patient delay in cancer. A view from the crisis model

Abstract

Despite widespread cancer awareness programs, deleterious delays in seeking diagnosis and care for cancer are as prominent now as as they were 50 years ago. These delays may be seen as attempts to resolve or postpone the crisis brought on an individual by the suspicion of terminal illness. The use of denial-like processes in the cognitive appraisal employed to assess this crisis is influenced by a variety of personal, social, and physical factors. Case material is examined to discuss the integration of these factors by the crisis model of physical illness and to examine the implications of such an approach for earlier detection and treatment of cancer.