Moving beyond narrative archetypes among children with cancer

Abstract

Children's narrations of their experiences with cancer provide researchers/clinicians with an understanding of their lived experiences. Arthur Frank's illness narrative framework-restitution, quest, and chaos-was used to explore 11 children's experiences with cancer. Several participants identified with the restitution narrative of "overcoming" an illness, whereas others identified with the quest narrative of a changed identity after an illness.Two participants voiced emotional struggles with cancer, identifying with the chaos narrative. The Medical Agency theme encompassed children who appeared to be experts on their own illness experiences. These findings highlight the importance of centring children's voices and stories in clinical and research settings.