Biomedical Approach

When someone is suffering or living with a chronic illness it can have a huge impact on them psychologically and socially. Chronic Illness is a condition that is prolonged in duration, usually more than 3 months and is rarely cured (DoH, 2012). Having to cope with a chronic condition might lead to life changes, such as dependency on others, loss of income, which can cause feelings of loss and reduced self-esteem. They can also report feelings of social rejection, poor healthcare and workplace termination due to their presenting condition (Earnshaw, Quinn, & Park, 2011).

This essay’s primary focus is on Anthony Vella a 46-year-old man who was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer six months ago. After being diagnosed with cancer, he underwent chemotherapy. However, his oncology team notified him two weeks ago stating that further chemotherapy was unlikely to be effective. Anthony has been married to Luisa for 20 years and decides to spend more time with his wife Luisa. However, after suffering from severe nausea and abdominal pain, Anthony was admitted to the oncology ward and a referral was made to the consultative palliative care team. A care plan was personalized for Anthony which focused on symptom control. Anthony’s symptoms were well managed by the team giving him the chance to return home and to spend

Caring for cancer patients can be very complex at times. According some, the availability of a range of health care providers hones poor communication and

Witt Sherman (1998) suggests that palliative care must be offered to family members of patients with terminal illnesses to address the physical, emotional, and social needs associated with being the caregiver of a person with a terminal illness, stating “the clinician needs to acknowledge the caregivers efforts and assess his or her relationship with the patient and other family members, while encouraging the expression of fears, concerns, loss, and grief. It is important to put the caregiver in touch with respite services before stress, emotional and physical exhaustion, and depression take their toll” (Witt Sherman, 1998). As an intern at a cancer institute, this writer assesses for the mood and needs of patients’ family members by initiating discussions about how they are coping with the patient’s illness. This writer attempts to empower caregivers by asserting the need for self-care at a time when they are devoting most of their time and energy to the family member they are caring for and providing them with the knowledge that the services offered by the Psychosocial Oncology department are available to them, as well as the patient.

With a little less than 1 in 2 males and a little more than 1 in 3 females forecast to be identified with cancer in their natural life (ACS, 2015), the need for facilities that place emphasis on value of life throughout and after therapy is becoming more and more important. Cancer management can cause an individual to lose as far as 34% of his or her physical capability, restricting involvement in activities of day-to-day livelihood, harmfully altering public and emotional meaning, and other physical difficulties. (Justice-Gardiner & Heston, 2011; Schwartz,

The terms illness and disease can often be used incorrectly when describing a medical condition. This is because illness and disease have several similarities; however, they are two different terms that describe different ideas. For instance, illness is socially and culturally influenced. Illness is the perception that the sick person and other social networks have as well as how they live with and deal with symptoms and or disabilities (Kleinman, 1988). Illness also includes illness problems, which are the difficulties and challenges that symptoms create in life, and language of complaints, which are both verbal and nonverbal complaints that families bring to the practitioner (ibid). On the other hand, disease is not socially influenced and focuses more on the biomedical model. Disease is a change in functioning or biological structure and it is the problem that is seen from the practitioner’s view (ibid).

“The emotional stress of living with the diagnosis of cancer and its treatment, and the distress imposed by living with the day-to-day physical problems described above can create new or worsen preexisting psychological distress for people living with cancer, their families, and caregivers” (Adler, 19). Not only do the patients have to deal with the worries and stress, but also friends and relatives who are involved with the patient battle mental effects. However, the patient may feel as if they are lonely and depressed. In addition, one may experience anxiety and concerns about how cancer might be in their future and can bring about feelings of fear, sadness, and confusion. Moreover, body image can be an issue due to one’s changing of appearance constantly. Often in society, they are treated differently because of physical changes, which can lead to the individual becoming self-conscious about their body image. Nonetheless, these psychological problems can produce stress from financial problems such as low income, lack of health insurance, and costs of health care. Not to mention that these cancer patients can develop an overall feeling of worry, uncertainty, a sense of vulnerability, and worries about acquiring a second cancer. The diagnosis of this life-threatening illness with a combination of mental and emotional stress causes suffering undoubtedly with the lingering thoughts of death running through their

Cancer patients go through a lot of psychological problems. Problems such as addicting or even depression, both of these problems can easily be

In dealing with cancer treatments now, slight flaws in our practice after therapy have been present; in doing so, patients have experienced personal and emotional discomfort after therapy. Addressing these issues can become informal to patients, as technology have made it easier for our daily procedures to become convenient. The underlining cause of some confusion is not the patients fault but lack of communication from the health care provider after. Therefore, introducing the drawbacks of cancer treatment is adequate to patients after recovery.

Today, many psychologists feel that psychological therapy can give cancer patients’ a longer life. The first to take this stance was Psychiatrist David Spiegel M.D., of Stanford University School of Medicine, in a 1989 study Spiegel gathered patients once a week to discuss there feelings about the cancer and here they received support from other cancer sufferers. “When Spiegel followed up a decade later, he discovered that patients who had participated in the sessions had survived an average of 18 months longer than those in the control group” (Clay,2000). It is felt that if you can tap into a patients mind and help them deal with the cancer by dealing in the mental aspect of it that it will be

Illness Behavior is any activity undertaken by a person who feels ill for the purpose of defining his/her health and of discovering a suitable remedy. On the surface, it may seem that the nature and severity of an illness would be the sole determinants of an individual’s response, and, for very severe illnesses, this is often true. But many people fail to see a physician or go very late in the disease process despite the presence of serious symptoms, and many other people see physicians routinely for trivial or very minor complaints. These patterns suggest that illness behavior is influenced by social and cultural factors in addition to (and sometimes instead of) physiological condition.

Cancer is an ugly disease and can cause ugly emotions, fears, and issues. Not only does the patient have to cope worry and stress of the new diagnosis as well as their family but also with the treatments for the illness and the side effects that they brings on as well. “These effects contribute to

Cancer treatments can cause physical, emotional and financial problems for the patient. “In a telephone interview study done and posted in the Journal of clinical oncology (Mazor KM, et.al; 2012) (p.1784-90) 416 patients were interviewed out of those ninety-three believed something had gone wrong in their care. Things that they believe were preventable and caused or could have

Cancer patients go through a lot of psychological problems. Problems such as addicting or even depression, both of these problems can easily be proven to tie together. Often people who are diagnosed with cancer who turn to drugs or alcohol face depression. They believe that the only way to avoid this life threatening disease is through escaping and avoiding the situation. Those who attempt to manage their stress with risky behaviors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, or who become more sedentary may have a poorer quality of life after cancer treatment (Psychological Stress). Depression is a major setback to most cancer patients, the feeling of loneliness and separation. Frequently the cancer patients feel as though there is no way out, no way of improving. Some cancer patients fear death, while others feel as though it’s the only solution. Killing cancer is not an easy process, multiple months of chemo and radiation are needed. Therapy also plays an important role in dealing with psychological

Throughout the world and through the years, it is always a traumatic experience being faced by patients diagnosed with cancer, popularly identified as “The Big C”. There are several challenges one has to face. Among the hundred of cases conducted on patients with cancer , particularly on women , the extraordinary reality is that the cancer is not always the most difficult part of their lives. Instead , it maybe directed at problems of living that are related only tangentially to cancer.