Self-management activities in long-term post-treatment cancer survivors

Post-treatment cancer survivors are individuals who have completed all cancer related treatments and are more than five years post-treatment (i.e. long-term survivors). However, completion of treatment does not guarantee that survivors are free from side effects which for head and neck cancer survivors can include swallowing and neck stiffness and for colorectal survivors can include bloating, sexual dysfunction, and diarrhea.

Self-management is defined as engaging in activities that can mitigate and/or lessen the negative effects of cancer and its treatments. This dissertation research investigated the self-management activities of long-term post-treatment cancer survivors. The results showed very limited research on self-management support for long-term cancer survivors. The results also showed that post-treatment survivors had three main approaches for self-management: 1) Taking charge which means being actively involved in identifying health issues and developing strategies to manage them; 2) As needed, responding to health issues as they arise; 3) Living with it which means adapting and accepting the limitations caused by cancer or its treatments. Identification of these approaches and the fact that individuals use one or a combination of approaches is a novel contribution to the literature. Additionally, an examination of self-management activities showed that survivors primarily focused on activities related to cancer risk reduction rather than overall health promotion. The results show the need for further research and for more individualized approaches to post-treatment survivors in clinical care.