Studies exploring self-care for the person coping with cancer treatment: a review

Individuals living with an illness such as cancer and receiving chemotherapy must often meet a new set of demands, that are not amongst their usual repertoire of skills and knowledge. Little is known about how patients manage the illness of cancer and in particular what self-care actions they develop and perform to cope with the side-effects of treatment. This paper outlines Orem's theory of self-care and describes its utilization in the design of a number of research studies in the cancer patient population. In particular, work which has explored the role of self-care in relationship to the control of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting is reviewed. The role of manipulating food and fluid intake, exercise and sleep and diversionary activities are explored; self-care is considered a vital part of the battle against combating nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy and further studies are urged.