Involvement in everyday life for people with a life threatening illness.
OBJECTIVE
In many studies, everyday life has been shown to be of great significance in the context of life-threatening cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate how people with cancer who are receiving palliative care engage in and undertake activities in their everyday lives.


METHODS
This is a qualitative interview study adopting a grounded theory approach. The sample was composed of participants receiving services from palliative hospital-based home care and day care services. A total of 47 individuals were interviewed.


RESULTS
Despite experiencing the threat of progressive loss of functioning, the participants were striving to remain involved in and to be active in everyday life. Continued involvement in everyday life with lowered expectations concerning performance gave the participants the possibility to continue doing daily activities as well as to perform new and engaging activities that were a source of pleasure and enabled the patients to feel a sense of competence.


CONCLUSIONS
This study has demonstrated the power of being involved in everyday life activities. The proposed model, explaining individuals' desire to continue to live an active life despite a progressive loss of functioning, can provide a model to help the reasoning of professionals when supporting patients in their everyday life.
Svidén
Gerd Andersson
GA
Karolinska Institute, Department of Occupational Therapy, Stockholm, Sweden. gerd.andersson.sviden@ki.se
Tham
Kerstin
K
Borell
Lena
L
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003631:Day Care, Medical; D005260:Female; D018575:Home Care Services, Hospital-Based; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010166:Palliative Care; D036301:Qualitative Research; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*