Opplevelse, mening og mestring hos mennesker som "mot alle odds" overlever alvorlig kreftsykdom
Abstract
Enkelte mennesker blir uventet frisk fra alvorlig kreftsykdom eller lever lenger enn medisinsk forventet. Biomedisinen forklarer fenomenet som en tilfeldig tilbakegang av sykdommen. De det gjelder blir sjelden spurt om de har gjort egne innsatser for å mestre sykdommen og gjenvinne sin helse. Hensikten med studien var å få økt forståelse for overlevelse ”mot alle odds” hos mennesker med alvorlig kreftsykdom. Forskningsspørsmålet var om personene selv gjorde aktive innsatser for å vinne tilbake liv og helse. Studien spurte hva de gjorde og hvilken mening de tilla sin sykdom og bedring, sine innsatser og valg. 8 personer med levd erfaring med forskningsspørsmålet ble intervjuet. Den metodiske tilnærmingen var fenomenologi og det kvalitative forskningsintervjuet. Informantene brukte ulike alternativmedisinske tilnærminger for å mestre sykdommen. Sykdom sees i sammenheng med livsbelastninger. Innstilling og det at de selv tok ansvar sees som viktigste grunn til bedringen. Sykehuslegene var lite interessert i hva informantene gjorde. Legenes formidling av prognosen var en dødsdom som kunne knuse håpet, det var ingen ting de kunne gjøre selv. Informantene etterlyste den gode samtalen og å bli møtt som hele mennesker. Den viktigste støtten til egne mestringsvalg fant de hos familie og venner. På bakgrunn av studiens funn må ikke overlevelsesstatistikk styre hvordan håpet kommuniseres til den enkelte pasient. Fokuset må være etisk håp. Nyere kunnskap om kropp-sinn sammenhenger må tas på alvor. Man kan nærme seg sykdom via flere nivåer i det helhetlige systemet. Helsevesenet bør forholde seg til mennesket som helhet og vise respekt for pasientenes egne mestringsvalg. Nøkkelord: Eksepsjonelle kreftpasienter, kreft, mestring, mening, håp, alternativ medisin, holisme. Occasionally some people unexpectedly recover from serious cancer disease or live longer than medically expected. Biomedicine usually describes this phenomenon as spontaneous regression of the disease. People who experience the phenomenon are rarely asked whether they have actively tried to cope with the disease. The purpose of this study was to gain further understanding of people who survive cancer “against all odds”. The research question was whether the persons had actively tried to win back their life and health. The study asked what they did and what meaning they attributed to their disease and to their recovery, their actions and choices. 8 people who had lived experience with the research question were interviewed. The methodological approach was phenomenology and the qualitative research interview. The participants had used different alternative medicine approaches to cope with their disease. Disease is often viewed in relation to life strains. Their own attitude and that they took personal responsibility is viewed as the most important reason for their positive health state. The hospital doctors showed little interest in their coping efforts. The doctors often communicated the medical prognosis as a death sentence that could crush all hope; there was nothing that the person could do to affect the disease. The participants expressed a need for a more constructive and meaningful conversation and to be met as whole persons. The most important support for their own coping strategies came from relatives and friends. According to the findings of this study survival statistics should not guide how hope is communicated the individual patient. The focus must be ethical hope. Recent knowledge on body-mind connections must be taken more seriously. It is possible to approach disease through several levels of the whole system. The public health service should approach the person as a whole and communicate respect for the patients own coping strategies. Key words: Exceptional cancer patients, cancer, coping, meaning, hope, alternative medicine, holism.
Publisher
The University of BergenCopyright
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