Self Efficacy In Cancer Patients

Albert Bandura introduced the Self-Efficacy Theory in the late 1970s. Self-Efficacy is the belief in one’s ability to perform actions to complete a task or goal attainment. It has been applied to many areas such as smoking cessation, eating, and pain control. It can also be applied to childhood asthma to share insight on the child’s belief. Believing in oneself and the ability to manage their own care is a very important aspect of self-care.

| | |friends about the changes it may have on their life. Getting an early diagnosis also enables an |

When Henrietta finds out that she had cervical cancer, she did not tell anyone and continue to live her life, as usual, taking care of her husband and the children. Rebecca Skloot states that Henrietta told, “Day and the children not to worry,” ‘Aint’ nothing serious wrong, “Doctor’s gonna fix me right up” (Skloot 31). In the article “Keeping Cancer a Secret,” author Dr. Mikkael Sekeres ask his patient “how are they [children] dealing with your diagnosis” (1). The patient response what that the reason he chose to not tell his children was that his son was away on duty in Afghanistan and felt that it would not be fair for her daughter to know the truth and not his son.(Sekeres 2) Dr. Sekeres states, “I was surprised. My patient had been dealing with this serious medical condition for a couple of years, and he was so pragmatic in how he managed all aspects of his life” (2). Even the doctor finds it amazing that he had been hiding his secret for a long time and that his children were unaware what their father was going through, but that was his choice and it should be respected. Different reasons motivate a person to keep their illness way from their loved ones. It also depends on patients’ attitudes if they are private with their life, in general, it will be harder for the patients to talk with others about their

Cancer has one of the biggest effects on the patients mental health but also the patients loved ones and friends. It is one of the hardest things to get a grip on when the doctor tells someone that they have cancer and a fifty-fifty chance of making it. "The disease can bring many changes-in what people do and how they look, in how they feel and what they value" (Dakota 4). It makes people look at the world and their lives in a different way, valuing now what they took for granted and seeing the bigger picture in every scenario. It is something that no one can actually brace, even after the doctor tells them. Through it all though, the person must remain strong and optimistic because the cancer can affect the person's moods and in return affect the outcome of the person and the chances of their making it

Self-efficacy can be described as the level self-confidence that a person has when they try to do something. It is important in making a behavioral change because people need to envision themselves succeeding.

Which is being a shy small town girl who never wanted to speak in front of people because of fear of what they think or say. Years after her diagnosis she has become one of the most well know breast cancer activist in the United States. She believes that God brought her through the cancer the first time and used it for good. She also believes that the cancer has made her marriage and family stronger. Cancer can cause depression, body image issues, anxiety and fear, but your attitude about your diagnosis can make a big difference during your treatment. Always try to stay positive and when you you’re a survivor try to make a difference to help

Being diagnosed with cancer can be very scared because the person that is been diagnosed is not prepared to receive the tremendous news. When Henrietta find out that she had cervical cancer, she did not tell anyone and went on with her day as if nothing had happened. Rebecca Skloot states that Henrietta told “Day and the children not to worry,” “A int’ nothing serious wrong, she said““Doctor’s gonna fix me right up” (Skloot 31). In the article “Keeping Cancer a Secret” author Dr. Mikkael Sekeres ask his patient “how are they [children] dealing with your diagnosis” (1). The reason he chose to not tell was that this son was away in duty on

Bandura focused on perceived self-efficacy, which he defines as a belief in one’s own capability to organize and execute the course of action required to attain a goal. (Bandura, 1977).

Carr, B. (2013). Psychological aspects of cancer: A guide to emotional and psychological consequences of cancer, their causes and their management. New York: Springer.

Social support was taken as the perception and actuality that one is cared for, has assistance available from other people (spouse, relatives and friends) and that one is part of a supportive social network (Odongo et al, 2015). To demonstrate, my grandmother was able to have a lot of support from the family in which this allowed her to detect the cancer earlier due to the awareness of breast cancer in our family history. Breast cancer runs in my family, in every generation, and the remission of my grandmother’s cancer has led everyone to help out and understand the toll that the cancer was taking on her body. This allowed the family to learn more and support her in what decision she has made in taking the steps of recovery. Several studies have also described how the patient’s concealment of symptoms may influence, delay of medical help-seeking, while discussing them with friends and family can facilitate the decision to seek medical advice (Odongo et al, 2015).

Effective communication among nurse and patient/family can improve care and relieve suffering. The diagnosis and treatment for cancer is a major challenge and it affects all aspects of life. By therapeutic communication, providing information, encouraging optimistic outlook, teaching how to reduce stress patient care will have better outcomes. (Yarbro, Wujchik, & Gobel,  2010).

Virtually all people can identify goals they want to accomplish, things they would like to change, and things they would like to achieve. However, most people also realize that putting these plans into action is not quite so simple. Bandura and others have found that an individual’s self-efficacy plays a major role in how goals, tasks, and challenges are approached.

The previous section has shown that previous study had yielded contradictory results. To account for the inconsistent findings, we have to first understand the inner mechanisms of the effects of optimism on cancer survival rate. Salovey (2000) has proposed various potential casual pathways from dispositional optimism to cancer survival outcomes. One of the potential mediators of optimism and survival outcome might be immune system. In other words, optimism tends to enhance the immune system which in turn enhance cancer survival rate. Indeed, Ah (2007) examines the intimate connections among social support, optimism, and immune response. Ah hypothesized that optimism plays a mediating role for immune response and cancer outcome. 54 cancer patients participated in the study. They completed questionnaires regarding stress level, optimism, and satisfaction social support. Participants’ blood was assessed to measure the immune system (ex., white blood cell such as natural killer cell. The results showed that only optimism is associated with immune response and cancer prognosis, while perceived satisfaction of social support was not associated immune response.

I cannot describe what I felt when my mom told me she had cancer. I was sad, I was scared; I did not even know if I felt anything. My mom, however, stayed positive and hopeful while I stayed quiet and seemingly apathetic. There was an obvious ironic contrast between the emotional state of me and the woman who actually had cancer.

Communication, in healthcare, is a multidimensional concept that involves patients, family members, and a health care team. There is a direct correlation with communication, improving a patient's well being, and quality of care. Adequate communication among physicians and their patients is an actively growing research topic. Results supplied by such studies have provided effective recommendations for oncologists and their team. These recommendations include the patient-physician relationship, how physicians utilize medical information, how physicians deal with patient emotions, physician self-management, and educational conferences designed to sharpen communication. Communication is important during each phase of cancer care.