Caring, curing, coping: towards an integrated model

There is an extensive literature discussing the "care:cure dilemma'. This usually puts forward the position that it is doctors who do the curing and nurses who do the caring. Patients are rarely included in the discussion. This paper considers some of this literature and examines whether this separation of functions is a valid one, the part of lay carers in the process, and the perspective of patients. It focuses particularly on cancer because this is an area where the issues seem particularly pertinent. The paper concludes by proposing an alternative and integrated conception which includes patients, nurses and doctors in a cognitive-phenomenological model of coping. It is suggested that this model moves forward from the previous limitations of the care:cure approach and enables more fruitful research and education of practitioners to be undertaken.