Perceptions About Care and Support Among Cancer Survivors With Severe Mental Health Conditions

Background: Research on the attitudes and support received by cancer survivors with preexisting severe mental health conditions (SMHC) from their families and oncology professionals is lacking. Aims: To explore how individuals with SMHC perceive and experience family and oncology team attitudes and care. Methods: Participants were 25 cancer survivors, 6 men and 18 women, aged 26–86 with preexisting SMHC. The interpretive phenomenological approach and reflexive thematic analysis were used to capture participants' lived experiences. Results: Two themes emerged: (a) “They don't take us seriously”: perceived family attitudes and support; and (b) “It was basically like ice”: perceived care from oncology professionals. From these two themes, a core typology was developed, exemplifying the parallel experience and perceptions of care of family members and oncology team: negative attitudes and inadequate support reported by most participants; receiving the essential but unemotional and detached care reported by some participants; and experiencing positive attitudes and adequate support expressed by a few. In some cases, following a cancer diagnosis, family members became more positive. Many participants experienced the oncology professionals' attitudes as affected by stigma and lack of attention to their unique situation. Conclusion: Oncology professionals should address survivors' needs for equality, dignity, humanity, and privacy in terms of care to improve their psychological well-being. In addition, family members supporting a patient with SMHC should receive sufficient information and tools to promote better care.