“There’s so much wrong with me. I’ve just gotten a little sick”: Syndemic cancer experiences among people struggling with homelessness and severe substance use
This article investigates the complex ways that social conditions and illness experiences interact with cancer in a marginalised population. Drawing on the theoretical framework of syndemics, we explore how people living in circumstances of homelessness and severe substance use in Denmark experience...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-06-01
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| Series: | SSM: Qualitative Research in Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321524000246 |
| _version_ | 1797256285403480064 |
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| author | Pia Vivian Pedersen Morten Hulvej Rod Tine Tjørnhøj-Thomsen |
| author_facet | Pia Vivian Pedersen Morten Hulvej Rod Tine Tjørnhøj-Thomsen |
| author_sort | Pia Vivian Pedersen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article investigates the complex ways that social conditions and illness experiences interact with cancer in a marginalised population. Drawing on the theoretical framework of syndemics, we explore how people living in circumstances of homelessness and severe substance use in Denmark experience and manage their cancer illness. We draw upon qualitative, partly longitudinal, interviews with marginalised people with current or previous cancer illness. Participants suffered from a wide range of physical and mental conditions alongside their cancer illness and substance use. Adverse interactions between these conditions delayed, complicated, or hindered both the cancer diagnosis and the cancer treatment of participants. Surprisingly, for some, the cancer diagnosis also contributed to temporary periods of stability. Nevertheless, disadvantaged social conditions of chaotic, unwanted housing conditions, fragile social relations and social isolation worked to aggravate participants' cancer trajectories and general life situation. Participants' cancer experiences were cases of syndemic suffering that took on a distinct direction in which cancer created cyclical rounds of suffering due to the many late effects of the illness and treatment. The article demonstrates how marginalised people’s cancer experiences are inextricably linked to, and shaped by, the social and health inequities characterising their lives. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T22:19:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-874ae0e07a05464bbf806a1698ab040b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2667-3215 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T22:19:19Z |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SSM: Qualitative Research in Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-874ae0e07a05464bbf806a1698ab040b2024-03-20T06:11:35ZengElsevierSSM: Qualitative Research in Health2667-32152024-06-015100415“There’s so much wrong with me. I’ve just gotten a little sick”: Syndemic cancer experiences among people struggling with homelessness and severe substance usePia Vivian Pedersen0Morten Hulvej Rod1Tine Tjørnhøj-Thomsen2Corresponding author. National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Studiestræde 6, DK-1455, Copenhagen, Denmark.; National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, DenmarkNational Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, DenmarkNational Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, DenmarkThis article investigates the complex ways that social conditions and illness experiences interact with cancer in a marginalised population. Drawing on the theoretical framework of syndemics, we explore how people living in circumstances of homelessness and severe substance use in Denmark experience and manage their cancer illness. We draw upon qualitative, partly longitudinal, interviews with marginalised people with current or previous cancer illness. Participants suffered from a wide range of physical and mental conditions alongside their cancer illness and substance use. Adverse interactions between these conditions delayed, complicated, or hindered both the cancer diagnosis and the cancer treatment of participants. Surprisingly, for some, the cancer diagnosis also contributed to temporary periods of stability. Nevertheless, disadvantaged social conditions of chaotic, unwanted housing conditions, fragile social relations and social isolation worked to aggravate participants' cancer trajectories and general life situation. Participants' cancer experiences were cases of syndemic suffering that took on a distinct direction in which cancer created cyclical rounds of suffering due to the many late effects of the illness and treatment. The article demonstrates how marginalised people’s cancer experiences are inextricably linked to, and shaped by, the social and health inequities characterising their lives.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321524000246CancerHomelessnessIllness experienceSufferingSubstance useQualitative interviews |
| spellingShingle | Pia Vivian Pedersen Morten Hulvej Rod Tine Tjørnhøj-Thomsen “There’s so much wrong with me. I’ve just gotten a little sick”: Syndemic cancer experiences among people struggling with homelessness and severe substance use SSM: Qualitative Research in Health Cancer Homelessness Illness experience Suffering Substance use Qualitative interviews |
| title | “There’s so much wrong with me. I’ve just gotten a little sick”: Syndemic cancer experiences among people struggling with homelessness and severe substance use |
| title_full | “There’s so much wrong with me. I’ve just gotten a little sick”: Syndemic cancer experiences among people struggling with homelessness and severe substance use |
| title_fullStr | “There’s so much wrong with me. I’ve just gotten a little sick”: Syndemic cancer experiences among people struggling with homelessness and severe substance use |
| title_full_unstemmed | “There’s so much wrong with me. I’ve just gotten a little sick”: Syndemic cancer experiences among people struggling with homelessness and severe substance use |
| title_short | “There’s so much wrong with me. I’ve just gotten a little sick”: Syndemic cancer experiences among people struggling with homelessness and severe substance use |
| title_sort | there s so much wrong with me i ve just gotten a little sick syndemic cancer experiences among people struggling with homelessness and severe substance use |
| topic | Cancer Homelessness Illness experience Suffering Substance use Qualitative interviews |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321524000246 |
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