Short Communication
Promoting Post-Traumatic Growth among Taiwanese Cancer Survivors: Cultural Issues
Yun-Hsiang Lee1, Jui-Chun Chan2, In-Fun Li3 and Yvonne Hsiung1*
1Department of Nursing, Mackey Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan
2Department of Nursing, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, Tawan
3Department of Nursing, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- *Corresponding Author:
- Yvonne Hsiung
Department of Nursing, Mackey Medical College, No.46
Sec. 3, Zhongzheng Rd., Sanzhi Dist., New Taipei City 252, Taiwan
Tel: 886226360606, ext: 1318
E-mail: yvonnebear@mmc.edu.tw
Received date: June 14, 2016; Accepted date: July 20, 2016; Published date: July 23, 2016
Citation: Lee YH, Chan JC, Li IF, Hsiung Y (2016) Promoting Post-Traumatic Growth among Taiwanese Cancer Survivors: Cultural Issues. J Palliat Care Med 6:273. doi:10.4172/2165-7386.1000273
Copyright: © 2016 Lee YH, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is a phenomenon notable among cancer survivors who endure aggressive, lifethreatening treatment of severe illnesses. Such growth manifests through improved physical health, strengthened psycho-spiritual resilience, intensified coping skills, and better utilization of resources. Due to the scarce literature, the link between cancer survivorship and PTG remains unclear in Taiwan and further complicated by cultural issues. Presented in this article are summated findings from cross-cultural literature of PTG among cancer survivors, particularly various observations of posttraumatic stress and coping between Eastern and Western cultures. Clinical implications are followed to encourage health care providers to cogitate culture-specific meanings in survivors’ cancer-related posttraumatic experiences. There lies a cultural need to fill in the knowledge gap in order to ultimately promote PTG and improve cancer survivors’ quality of post-cancer life in Taiwan.
