Experiences of Adolescents Receiving Cancer Treatment at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Cancer is one of the most challenging and devastating diseases that affects adolescents, as well as adults and children. Unlike children and adults, cancers occurring in adolescents are uncommon in terms of their site, genetic profiles, clinical characteristics, morphology and topography. The treatment regimen of cancer is usually long and may take years to be completed. This may deprive adolescents of school, leisure activities and time to associate with friends and family. Even if these needs are adequately met, the adolescent receiving cancer treatment is confronted with a myriad of psychosocial issues that may affect the quality of life. These include the effects of symptoms and side effects of medications, loss of social function, the importance of peers and other sources of support, the effects of diagnosis and sometimes financial constraints. Most research conducted have focused on the experiences of caregivers and neglected the adolescents who may already be going through a lot of psychosocial challenges associated with this developmental stage. The study therefore explored the physical, psychological, social and spiritual well-being of adolescents receiving cancer treatment at the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital. An exploratory, descriptive qualitative approach was used to describe the experiences of adolescents receiving cancer treatment at the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital using the Quality of Life Model applied to cancer developed by Dow and Ferrell (1999) as an organising framework. Purposive sampling was used to select fourteen adolescents, who have been receiving cancer treatment for six months or more. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data from fourteen adolescents receiving cancer treatment at the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital. Each interview was audiotaped and lasted for about 45-90 minutes. Each interview was transcribed verbatim and thematic content analysis used to analyse the data. Five major themes were derived. These were physical well-being, psychological well-being, social well-being and spiritual well-being of adolescents receiving cancer treatment, and health service-related University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Experiences of adolescents receiving cancer treatment at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital iii factors. The study found out that adolescents receiving cancer treatment experienced symptoms from cancer and side effects of treatment such as gastrointestinal disorders, pain, decrease in functional ability and fatigue. Psychologically, the adolescents were worried, sad and anxious about frequent hospital visits, undergoing treatment, the possibility of cure, mood changes and cognitive/attention deficits. They experienced social isolation, absenteeism from school and church. They however had support from their family, school, friends and health care providers. Caregivers of the adolescents experienced caregiver burden and financial constraints which impacted on the quality of life of the adolescents. Spiritually, the adolescents were hopeful of a future and prayed to God for healing. It was recommended that a multidisciplinary approach be used in the care of adolescents receiving cancer treatment. Also, cancer centres be established in every region and the cost of cancer treatment especially for adolescents be included on the National Health Insurance Scheme to reduce financial burden on caregivers.