TY - JOUR
T1 - From diagnosis to death
T2 - a case study of coping with breast cancer as seen through online discussion group messages
AU - Wen, Kuang-Yi
AU - McTavish, Fiona
AU - Kreps, Gary
AU - Wise, Meg
AU - Gustafson, David
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - To understand the underlying psychosocial reactions against the unfolding of medical events that announce the disease progression, the objective of this analysis was to identify the patterns of online discussion group message themes in relation to the medical timeline of one woman's breast cancer trajectory. 202 messages posted by Darlene (our studied case) were analyzed by 2 independent coders using a grounded theory approach. The findings suggest that the pattern of messages was clearly correlated with distress-inducing events. The most frequent interaction theme was about building friendship with peers through communication of encouragement, validation, appreciation, and life sharing. Narratives of medical progression were constantly updated to identify similarities with peers. Family issues were increasingly raised at the end of life.
AB - To understand the underlying psychosocial reactions against the unfolding of medical events that announce the disease progression, the objective of this analysis was to identify the patterns of online discussion group message themes in relation to the medical timeline of one woman's breast cancer trajectory. 202 messages posted by Darlene (our studied case) were analyzed by 2 independent coders using a grounded theory approach. The findings suggest that the pattern of messages was clearly correlated with distress-inducing events. The most frequent interaction theme was about building friendship with peers through communication of encouragement, validation, appreciation, and life sharing. Narratives of medical progression were constantly updated to identify similarities with peers. Family issues were increasingly raised at the end of life.
U2 - 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2011.01542.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2011.01542.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 23055657
VL - 16
SP - 331
EP - 361
JO - Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
JF - Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
SN - 1083-6101
IS - 2
ER -