ArticleBMC palliative care2014
Meanings of existential uncertainty and certainty for people diagnosed with cancer and receiving palliative treatment: a life-world phenomenological study.
Article in BMC palliative care, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 89 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bearing the Burdens of Medical Uncertainty.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Article
- Navigating Complexity: Spiritual Care Discourses Among Swedish Palliative Care Professionals.Journal of religion and health · 2025Article
- Exploring the concept of Total Pain in contemporary oncology palliative care: a qualitative study on patients' resources.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- The relationship between authenticity and death anxiety in individuals with Acute Respiratory Tract Infections.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Article
- Social Reintegration Experiences of Young Adult Cancer Survivors.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Attending to the Existential Experience.Journal of palliative medicine · 2024Article
- Categorising Subjective Perceptions of Middle-Aged Breast Cancer Patients Using Q Methodology.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- How can existential or spiritual strengths be fostered in palliative care? An interpretative synthesis of recent literature.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2024Review
- Rethinking parameters of "success" in breaking bad news conversations from patient's perspective: the successful delivery process model.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- From existential uncertainty to a new mindset promoting recovery: Exploring the development of uncertainty experience in women with vulvar neoplasia - A qualitative longitudinal study.BMC women's health · 2024Article
- The experiences of living with multiple myeloma and a palliative approach to care: A grounded theory study.Canadian oncology nursing journal = Revue canadienne de nursing oncologique · 2024Article
- Myélome multiple et approche palliative des soins : étude théorique ancrée dans la pratique.Canadian oncology nursing journal = Revue canadienne de nursing oncologique · 2024Article
- Psychosocial Aspects of Living Long Term with Advanced Cancer and Ongoing Systemic Treatment: A Scoping Review.Cancers · 2022Article
- Signs and symptoms in relation to progression, experiences of an uncertain illness situation in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer-A qualitative study.European journal of cancer care · 2022Article
- Characterizing uncertainty in goals-of-care discussions among black and white patients: a qualitative study.BMC palliative care · 2022Article
- COVID-induced 3 weeks' treatment delay may exacerbate breast cancer patient's psychological symptoms.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- "If it's the time, it's the time": Existential communication in naturally-occurring palliative care conversations with individuals with advanced cancer, their families, and clinicians.Patient education and counseling · 2021Article
- Experience and supportive care needs of metastatic lung cancer survivors living with uncertainty: a brief qualitative report.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2021Article
- Perceptions of time spent pursuing cancer care among patients, caregivers, and oncology professionals.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMany people around the world are getting cancer and living longer with the disease. Thanks to improved treatment options in healthcare, patients diagnosed with advanced gastrointestinal cancer can increasingly live for longer. Living with cancer creates existential uncertainty, but what does this situation mean for the individual? The purpose of the study is to interpret meanings of existential uncertainty and certainty for people diagnosed with advanced gastrointestinal cancer and receiving palliative treatment.
methodsThis study is part of a larger project in which 7 men and 7 women aged between 49 and 79 participated in a study of information and communication for people with advanced gastrointestinal cancer. A total of 66 interviews were conducted with participants who were followed up over time. The narrative interviews were transcribed verbatim and the texts were analysed in three steps: naive reading, structural analysis and interpreted whole by utilizing a phenomenological life-world approach.
resultsTHIS STUDY HAS IDENTIFIED DIFFERENT SPHERES IN WHICH PEOPLE DIAGNOSED WITH ADVANCED GASTROINTESTINAL CANCER VACILLATE BETWEEN EXISTENTIAL UNCERTAINTY AND CERTAINTY: bodily changes, everyday situations, companionship with others, healthcare situations and the natural environment. Existing in the move between existential uncertainty and certainty appears to change people's lives in a decisive manner. The interview transcripts reveal aspects that both create existential certainty and counteract uncertainty. They also reveal that participants appear to start reflecting on how the new and uncertain aspects of their lives will manifest themselves -a new experience that lays the foundation for development of knowledge, personal learning and growth.
conclusionsPeople diagnosed with advanced gastrointestinal cancer and receiving palliative care expressed thoughts about personal learning initiated by the struggle of living with an uncertain future despite their efforts to live in the present. Their personal learning was experienced through a changed life for themselves and having to confront their own pending death and develop self-insight regarding finality of life. Healthcare professionals can try to support people receiving palliative treatment for cancer by diversifying avenues for their personal growth, thus helping them manage their existential uncertainty and gravitate towards greater existential certainty.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.