Nursing Care for Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer: Literature Review

Abstract

Cancer patients belonging to the adolescent and young adult (AYA) age group have unique and very specific needs, which require special attention from the caring staff. The difficulty in maintaining the personal and professional development at this age is both natural and normal. Adding to this, coping with a life-threatening disease turns this stage in life into a period with many dilemmas and challenges of quite a complex nature. AYA patients have to deal with issues above and beyond the disease itself, which create a very complex coping picture. On top of that, prognosis for this age group has not improved in recent years, unlike the situation in other age groups like children and adults. The literature on this subject is extensive and comprehensive. However, most of the papers on this subject are very specific and narrow in their approach, each dealing with a specific topic. In this article, we bring together many different papers which make a wide and comprehensive picture of the subject of AYAs coping with cancer, coupled with recommendations for the caring staff. In this review we focus on the various aspects of the disease and treatments in AYAs, based on the conceptual model of quality of life proposed by Ferrell and colleagues [Cancer Nurs 1992;15:153-160; Cancer Nurs 1992;15:247-253], including physical, social, emotional and spiritual aspects. From the psychological standpoint, most of the papers discuss the negative aspects; however, in this article we try to include some articles from the positive psychology school of thought. From our findings it is apparent that there is an opportunity and need to further explore research in this regard. It is apparent that taking a unique approach to AYA cancer patients is needed in order to deal with the unique needs of this age group. This article aims at putting a framework around this issue, with actionable recommendations for the caring staff.

Effects of social support, hope and resilience on quality of life among Chinese bladder cancer patients: a cross-sectional study

“…Pulvers et al indicated that the higher the level of hope, the more cancer pain a patient could tolerate [ 39 ]. Hope played a substantial role in preventing QOL impairment [ 47 ], and was also considered as a psychological and spiritual resource which was beneficial in fighting cancer [ 6 ]. Higher hope individuals might be more likely to participate in more activities with their spouse to achieve their goal of a better relationship [ 48 ].…”

“…The presence or absence of social support may be an important factor influencing the development and progression of cancer [ 4 , 5 ]. Social support leads the individuals to believing that themselves are concerned and accepted, in the meantime, there is someone who appreciates and takes care of them [ 6 ]. The presence of supportive interpersonal relationships has the potential to influence well-being in cancer survivorship [ 7 ], and it is also shown to be significant mediators of optimistic and positive affect [ 8 ].…”

Associations of psychological distress with positive psychological variables and activities of daily living among stroke patients: a cross-sectional study

“…Social support refers to the perceived comfort, caring and assistance that a person receives from his supportive social networks [19]. It has been frequently reported that the level of social support has a strong influence on functional recovery by leading the patients to believe they were concerned and cared for by their friends and families [20, 21]. Previous researches also demonstrated that social support has significant positive effects on psychological health and indicated that social support intervention may help alleviate psychological distress [22–24].…”

Predictors of quality of life among older patients with cancer during treatment

“…This may be related to the fact that a social support system, including a large family or social network that surrounded most of the patients during the treatment period, is considered a crucial factor affecting the advancement of cancer (Ikeda et al., 2013). The availability of supportive social relationships may affect the well-being of patients with cancer (Dreyer and Schwartz-Attias, 2014). Older patients with cancer who obtain psychological caring, comfort and assistance from their families and friends are more likely to manage their problems in positive ways (Li et al., 2016).…”