Is ignorance bliss, or is knowledge power? When cancer healthcare professionals become cancer patients

Abstract

Cancer healthcare professionals who are diagnosed with cancer enter the patient journey with considerable illness‐specific and healthcare expertise, which may influence the nature of their experience. Insights gained from having personal cancer experience may also lead to changes in professionals' subsequent clinical practice. This study explored cancer professional‐patients' experiences of their own cancer diagnosis, changes in practice, and recommendations for cancer care improvements. Participants were current or former cancer healthcare professionals who had ever received a cancer diagnosis. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 26 participants. Thematic analysis with an inductive approach was used for data analysis. Cancer professional‐patients faced unique needs, benefits and disadvantages due to their professional background, which both aided and marred their personal cancer experience. Individuals reported subjective practical and emotional‐related improvements in their clinical practice, although adverse emotional consequences upon returning to work were also prevalent. Care recommendations highlighted the importance of communication skills training for professionals, integrating psychological support, and providing patient‐centred care. In order to provide optimal care for cancer professional‐patients, providers must acknowledge their distinct challenges. Findings may help to foster improvements in cancer care practices through developing guidelines for treating cancer professional‐patients, and as part of narrative‐based medicine.

‘I got to understand what it means to be a cancer patient’: Qualitative evidence from health professional cancer patients and survivors

“…A participant painfully recounted how at a regional referral hospital, she was told and was always left to administer phototherapy to herself, resulting in severe toxicities of the treatment due to lack of monitoring and supervision from the attending doctors. These findings differ from those of a study by Lagad et al, 3 who found, in Australia, HCPs cancer patients found it easy to navigate the healthcare system including receiving immediate free or subsidized, high-quality care delivered by experts. Similar disparities in accessing cancer care including palliative care, surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are reported in other large, global studies.…”

“…In fact, some had to be advised by their healthcare colleagues to seek specialist attention, while others were prompted by their symptoms to seek further care. Lagad et al 3 similarly found HCPs who became ill with cancer received professional advice from colleagues.…”

“…Cancer is the second leading cause of deaths in the United States 2 and the third in Australia. 3 It is one of the major causes of death and morbidity in Africa, where cancer patients have the poorest outcomes and the shortest survival rates when compared to other parts of the world. 4 According to the GLOBOCAN 2018 report of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Africa registered 811,200 new cancer cases (4.5%) and 534,000 cancer deaths (7.3%) of the total world cancer burden.…”

“…It is thus inevitable that many HCPs will receive a cancer diagnosis. 3 However, there is scant evidence about the experiences of HCPs who become ill with cancer. Anecdotal evidence shows the experiences and support needs of HCPs who are recipients of cancer care differ from those of lay patients.…”

Re‐imagining Psycho‐oncology

“…Contributors also examine the role of context and individual factors in the cancer experience. Lagad, Hodgkinson, and Newton‐John () applied a qualitative approach to unpack how cancer professional‐patients face unique needs, benefits and disadvantages due to their professional backgrounds. These narratives raise the importance of how we care for our colleagues (and ourselves) as well as how we might utilise these perspectives to improve the cancer care system.…”