Browsing by Author "Laing, Catherine Mohrea"
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- ItemOpen AccessBuilding Enhanced Outcomes to Support Patients with Cancer: A Constructivist Grounded Theory of Oncology Healthcare Provider Experiences Working Within Canadian Urgent Cancer Clinics(2021-04-26) Patel, Tammy Louise; Raffin Bouchal, Donna Shelley; Laing, Catherine Mohrea; Hubbard, Stephanie MichellePatients with acute cancer symptoms (e.g., fevers, gastrointestinal disturbances, or uncontrolled pain) from ambulatory cancer centres predominantly rely on emergency departments (EDs) for assessment and treatment. However, this model of care is no longer sustainable and emphasizes healthcare system inefficiencies. The advent of urgent cancer clinics (UCCs) allows patients to have these symptoms treated by oncology experts within ambulatory cancer centres. Unfortunately, limited research on UCCs both operationally and experientially makes it difficult for others to adopt this new model of care. A constructivist grounded theory study was conducted to explore the processes and experiences of oncology healthcare providers (i.e., registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and physicians) in managing outpatient acute cancer symptoms within Canadian UCCs. Ten participants were recruited and interviewed from four Canadian UCCs. Grounded theory coding allowed categories to naturally emerge from the data and led to the co-construction of a substantive theory - Building Enhanced Outcomes to Support Patients with Cancer. This theory is comprised of three major categories and eight subcategories all working towards a common goal, the core category of Building Enhanced Outcomes. Findings from this study offer many new insights and practice implications related to managing outpatient acute cancer symptoms both within specialized UCCs and generalized ambulatory cancer centres.
- ItemOpen Access“It’s not just camp”: Understanding the Meaning of Children’s Cancer Camps for Children and Families(2013-02-25) Laing, Catherine Mohrea; Moules, NancyIn response to the stress of the childhood cancer experience, children’s cancer camps arose in the 1970s as a way for children and their families to escape the rigidity and severity of cancer treatment. Cancer camps are designed to meet the needs of the whole family at each stage in the cancer experience—from diagnosis through treatment, to survival or bereavement. In 2008, the eight camps across Canada provided specialized oncology camps and community support programs to 5,252 children and their families – a 10% increase from the previous three years. As more children are surviving childhood cancer, the need for specialized camps and community programs continues to grow. My purpose in this philosophical hermeneutic inquiry was to understand the meaning of children’s cancer camps for the child with cancer and the family. Six childhood cancer families and five cancer camp counselors were interviewed in order to bring understanding to this topic. Findings from this research revealed that camp means different things for different families, and that much is at play in the cancer camp experience: finding acceptance and fit, grief as something to live with versus “get over,” storytelling as a means of re-shaping and understanding traumatic experiences, and the solidarity of the community as one that creates intense, healing bonds. Children’s cancer camps, I conclude, need to be considered a necessity, versus a luxury, and should even be thought of as a psychosocial intervention for some children and families. Barriers such as structure of funding and access to resources are present, and likely due to the separate-ness of camps from hospital programs. In addition, this research speaks to the need for interpretive methods like hermeneutics to incorporate a tool such as Social Return on Investment, a principles-based approach that values change that would not otherwise be valued, when questions of social value are present.