title: Legacy Making Through Illness Blogs: Online Spaces for Young Adults Approaching the End-of-Life.
abstract: Little is known about young adults with cancer at the end-of-life, but life review and legacy making may be important modalities to process the emotions associated with anticipatory grief. The study analyzed the illness blogs of five young women (aged 25-39 years) at the end-of-life using a narrative approach. Key elements of legacy making and grief processing were explored. The women had varying experiences before their death, but uniform posthumous occurrences with the use of the blog for a space of grief for loved ones. The use of online blogs among adolescents and young adults with advanced cancer is an area of needed further study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Acute and Specialty Care, University of Virginia School of Nursing , Charlottesville, Virginia.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keim-Malpass
authors.affiliation: Department of Acute and Specialty Care, University of Virginia School of Nursing , Charlottesville, Virginia.
authors.forename: Katharine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Adelstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine , Division of General Internal Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Dio
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kavalieratos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D057218:Blogging; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D055809:Illness Behavior; D033262:Narration; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: end-of-life; illness blogs; legacy making; young adult oncology