What Cancer Metaphors Say About Patients' Cancer Related Attitudes and Behaviours: A Qualitative Study

Collin, Jerome and Liaw, Monica Kah Pei (2020) What Cancer Metaphors Say About Patients' Cancer Related Attitudes and Behaviours: A Qualitative Study. International Journal of Advanced Research in Education and Society, 1 (3). pp. 36-49. ISSN 2682-8138

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Abstract

This article presents findings from a study that explored the use of cancer metaphors among 31 cancer patients from Malaysia. The metaphors were explored through a qualitative process to provide insights into the common types of metaphors used and how these metaphors provided further information about patients’ cancer-related attitudes and health behaviours. The results show that the patients employed the structural, the conspiratorial, the journey and several other metaphors to talk about the disease and illness experience. The results also show that the metaphors revealed further insights into the patients’ cancer-related attitudes (e.g., low to high risk perceptions) and behaviours (e.g., weak to strong efficacy beliefs), and the different attitudinal groups to which they belong (e.g., responsive, proactive, avoidance, indifferent). These insights may help address some of the current issues surrounding metaphors in oncology, particularly those related to the impact that cancer metaphors can have on different individual patients.

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