Browsing by Author "Egan R"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Accessing diagnosis and treatment: The experience of cancer as wrangling with the system
    (Elsevier B.V., 2024-06) Dew K; Chamberlain K; Egan R; Broom A; Dennett E; Cunningham C
    Long term cancer survival is increasingly prevalent, and the consequences are of sociological and clinical interest. In this paper we deploy the concept of wrangling to emphasise the everyday tussle of survivorship and processes of navigating pathways through what can be an unwelcoming environment. From 2020 to 2022 81 interviews were conducted with people, Māori and non-Māori, throughout Aotearoa New Zealand identified as exceptional cancer survivors, living with a diagnosis of cancer from four to 37 years. Categories of wrangling discussed by participants included wrangling with the public drug-buying agency in Aotearoa New Zealand, wrangling between private and public healthcare systems, subaltern wrangling and wrangling across regions. Wrangling could be driven by the person with the cancer diagnosis, undertaken on behalf of that person by others including family and health professionals, and undertaken by the community. We argue that for most people with long-term cancer survival wrangling is a social practice, but the capacity to succeed in that practice is dependent on a range of factors, including levels of economic, cultural, and social capital. The concept of wrangling provides a contrast to an overemphasis in the survivorship literature on cancer as an individual experience; one largely disconnected from the art and practice of managing (often unwieldy and flawed) systems of care.
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    Disruption, discontinuity and a licence to live: Responding to cancer diagnoses.
    (John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness, 2024-05-30) Dew K; Chamberlain K; Egan R; Broom A; Dennett E; Cunningham C
    Although a diagnosis of a life-limiting cancer is likely to evoke emotions, such as fear, panic and anxiety, for some people it can also provide an opportunity to live life differently. This article is based on research undertaken in Aotearoa New Zealand on the topic of exceptional cancer trajectories. Eighty-one participants who had been identified as living with a cancer diagnosis longer than clinically expected were interviewed, along with 25 people identified by some of the participants as supporters in their journey. For some participants the diagnosis provided the opportunity to rethink their lives, to undertake lifestyle and consumption changes, to be culturally adventurous, to take up new skills, to quit work and to change relationships with others. The concepts of biographical disruption and posttraumatic growth are considered in relation to these accounts, and it is argued that the event of a cancer diagnosis can give license for people to breach social norms.
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    Inequalities between Māori and non-Māori men with prostate cancer in Aotearoa New Zealand.
    (Pasifika Medical Association Group (PMAG) previously New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA), 2020-09-04) Egan R; Kidd J; Lawrenson R; Cassim S; Black S; Blundell R; Bateman J; Broughton J
    Māori experience poorer health statistics in terms of cancer incidence and mortality compared to non-Māori. For prostate cancer, Māori men are less likely than non-Māori men to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, but those that are diagnosed are much more likely to die of the disease than non-Māori men resulting in an excess mortality rate in Māori men compared with non-Māori. A review of the literature included a review of the epidemiology of prostate cancer; of screening; of access to healthcare and of treatment modalities. Our conclusion was that there are a number of reasons for the disparity in outcomes for Māori including differences in staging and characteristics at diagnosis; differences in screening and treatment offered to Māori men; and general barriers to healthcare that exist for Māori men in New Zealand. We conclude that there is a need for more culturally appropriate care to be available to Māori men.