title: Childhood experiences of cancer: an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach.
abstract: Pediatric oncology has emerged as one of the great medical success stories of the last 4 decades. The cure rate of childhood cancer has increased from approximately 25% in the 1960's to more than 75% in more recent years. However, very little is known about how children actually experience the diagnosis and treatment of their illness. A total of 9 families in which a child was diagnosed with cancer were interviewed twice over a 12-month period. Using the qualitative methodology of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), children's experiences of being patients with a diagnosis of cancer were explicated. The results revealed 5 significant themes: the experience of illness, the upside of being sick, refocusing on what is important, acquiring a new perspective, and the experience of returning to well-being. Changes over time were noted because children's experiences' were often pertinent to the stage of treatment the child had reached. These results revealed rich and intimate information about a sensitive issue with implications for understanding child development and medical and psychosocial treatment.
authors.affiliation: Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, Australia. maya_griffiths@health.qld.gov.au
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Griffiths
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schweitzer
authors.forename: Patsy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yates
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D055809:Illness Behavior; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*