Coping With Cancer, Quality of Life, and Return-to-Work

Coping strategies for people with cancer and chronic illness are examined in a comprehensive literature review, which includes a variety of cancer diagnoses and stages. Strategies a person would use to cope with cancer, i.e., physical, psychosocial, emotional, spiritual, and vocational functioning are identified. A person’s ability to use the identified coping strategies, during and after a cancer diagnosis, directly impacts one’s quality of life. Based on this review, implications for rehabilitation counselors, case managers, disability specialists, as well as implications for future research are discussed. Advances in medical research, growth in technology, and discoveries in pharmacology have led to an increased life expectancy and people are living longer lives than in years past. The National Commission on Chronic Illness, established in 1949, defines chronic illness as “all impairments or deviations from normal that have one of more of the following characteristics: are permanent, leave residual disability; are caused by non-reversible pathological alteration; require special training of the patient rehabilitation; or may be expected to require long period of supervision, observation or care” (Sidell, 1997, p. 2). Although there are many definitions of chronic illness, it is considered to be any health condition that lasts for an extended period of time. Thus, cancer, in all its forms, can be considered a chronic illness, one that affects millions of people and their families each year (Hart, 2007). The National Cancer Institute reports that nearly 45% of men and nearly 39% of women are at risk for developing cancer in their lifetime; moreover, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States (Franks & Roesch, 2006). Furthermore, it is widely acknowledged that a growing number of people with cancer are surviving and living longer lives. It is important then to consider the physical, emotional, psychological, and social health of people with cancer as they are coping and adjusting to the illness.