Body experiences among persons living with incurable cancer : movements in a threatened body

Abstract

Background: Living with incurable cancer is characterized by increasing deterioration of the person’s body. Bodily impairment and changes affects all aspects of a person`s life and interfere with factors such as disease, medical treatment and loss of physical, social, and mental function. Bodily changes may change a person’s body image and experience of one self. There is a lack of knowledge in palliative care about how people experience their bodies. Aim: The aim was to provide a broader understanding of how people living with incurable cancer experience their bodies and how this can be of significance for patients and carers in a physiotherapeutic setting. Theoretical frame: A phenomenological hermeneutical framework is used well suited to provide insight into lived experiences and to elucidate essential meaning of body experiences. Methods: A qualitative study was performed. Seven persons with advanced incurable cancer who received individual physiotherapy were interviewed. Data were analyzed by thematic and interpretive anasysis according to a phenomenological –hermeneutical approach. Body phenomenology and implications for practice was further explored in the essay. Results: A core finding was that the participants experienced life as threatened where an awareness of mortality is adapted into daily life. A deeper consciousness of and gratefulness for life were present. In the article the finding is presented in three themes:1. Insecurity. 2. Alienation. 3. Joy for life. Physiotherapy seemed to be a support in maintaining hope for days to come and create meaning through body experiences. Conclusion: Living with incurable cancer entails living in an insecure and alien body sustaining an existential awareness of the body and limiting expression of daily living, being a reminder of own mortality. Physiotherapy seems to be of importance in palliative care. The results from the study highlight essential perspectives and characteristics of lived body and may be relevant for palliative carepractice. Further research is needed to guide application of the results in clinical practice