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Stories of Dying and Death as told by Family Members’ of Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) who have Died from Cancer
Janet Barling* and Kierrynn Davis
School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Australia
- *Corresponding Author:
- Janet Barling
RN, PhD, Adjunct Lecturer
School of Health and Human Sciences
Southern Cross University, PO Box 157
Lismore , NSW 2480, Australia
Tel: 61-2410599164
Fax: 61-266203307
E-mail: jan.barling@scu.edu.au
Received date: August 02, 2016; Accepted date: September 20, 2016; Published date: September 23, 2016
Citation: Barling J, Davis K (2016) Stories of Dying and Death as told by Family Members’ of Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) who have Died from Cancer. J Palliat Care Med 6:284. doi: 10.4172/2165-7386.1000284
Copyright: © 2016 Barling J. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Research of AYAs with cancer has developed significantly over the last 20 years. The research has demonstrated that AYAs with cancer are a forgotten population, who require closer study in order to understand their unique issues. This paper examines family members’ experiences of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) during the dying stage of their cancer trajectory. The results are drawn from a larger study titled ‘From Go to Woe; Family Members’ Stories of Adolescents and Young People Living with and Dying from Cancer, which storied the family members’ experience of the diagnosis, treatment, dying and death of an AYA family member, utilizing Armstrong-Coster’s (2004) four stages of the cancer trajectory. The principal researcher’s motivation to understand and story these experiences was related to her own isolation and lack of information when her 16 year old son Anthony, was diagnosed with and eventually died of cancer at 17 years of age. The significance of this study is the contribution made to the identification of issues that can inform health policy/ guidelines. The findings have the potential to increase understanding of, and prepare family members and AYAs with cancer, for the experience of the death and dying stage of the cancer trajectory.
