Childhood cancer in El Salvador: A preliminary exploration of parental concerns in the abandonment of treatment

European Journal of Oncology Nursing : the Official Journal of European Oncology Nursing Society
Nuria RossellStuart Blume

Abstract

In El Salvador, children under 12 diagnosed with cancer have access to free treatment at a specialized national facility. Until recently, 13 percent of patients annually abandoned therapy--a serious loss of lives and scarce resources. This qualitative study explores how some parents perceived their child's cancer and treatment, and what led them to stop bringing their child for chemotherapy. In in-depth interviews, parents of six children who abandoned their child's cancer treatment discussed sickness and life circumstances during the course of treatment. Poverty, effects of treatment, mistrust, emotions and religious convictions all figured in the parents' explanation of their actions. However, each family weighed these concerns differently. It was the interaction of the concerns, and not the concern per se, that represented the explanatory frameworks the families used to explain stopping their child's treatment. This finding illustrates the parents' navigation among a collection of variable concerns, rather than exposing one fixed cause for their behavior. For example, poverty affects a parent's worldview as well as concrete living conditions, and therefore has a complex relationship with abandonment of treatment. Thus, it fo...Continue Reading

References

Jan 19, 2005·Tropical Medicine & International Health : TM & IH·M M MeremikwuE O Alaje
May 27, 2005·The New England Journal of Medicine·Raul C Ribeiro, Ching-Hon Pui
Jan 26, 2007·Pediatric Blood & Cancer·Ramandeep Singh AroraBarry Pizer
May 1, 2009·Pediatric Blood & Cancer·K P KulkarniD Bansal
Jul 9, 2009·International Journal of Cancer. Journal International Du Cancer·Miguel BonillaLillian Sung
Sep 4, 2009·Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing : Official Journal of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses·Mei Neni SitaresmiAnjo J P Veerman
Aug 3, 2010·European Journal of Cancer : Official Journal for European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) [and] European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)·Miguel BonillaLillian Sung
Jan 1, 2012·Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention : APJCP·Saskia MostertGertjan Kaspers

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Dec 3, 2016·Pediatric Blood & Cancer·Roberto Rivera-LunaMarco R Aguilar-Ortiz
Feb 17, 2018·Journal of Psychosocial Oncology·Nuria RossellRia Reis

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric condition characterized by severe weight loss and secondary problems associated with malnutrition. Here is the latest research on AN.

Blood And Marrow Transplantation

The use of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or blood and marrow transplantation (bmt) is on the increase worldwide. BMT is used to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Here is the latest research on bone and marrow transplantation.

Related Papers

International Journal of Psychology : Journal International De Psychologie
Sabrina Cipolletta, Linda Amicucci
Journal of Pediatric Health Care : Official Publication of National Association of Pediatric Nurse Associates & Practitioners
Angela De La ONicole L Mihalopoulos
© 2022 Meta ULC. All rights reserved