Models of helping and coping in cancer care

This paper provides a theoretical analysis of four models of helping and coping as they relate to cancer care. The four conceptual models focus on the issue of whether or not patients should be viewed as responsible for the cause or the treatment of their cancer. The moral model, characterized by the holistic health movement, holds patients responsible for both causing and resolving health problems. The compensatory model, exemplified by cancer education programs, attributes low responsibility to patients for causing health problems but high responsibility for resolving them. The medical model views patients as neither responsible for causing nor for resolving health problems. The enlightenment model, typified by the healing movement, holds people responsible for causing their health problems, but not for resolving them. An attempt is made to examine existing programs in cancer care in light of these models. The present analysis addresses the following questions. Why is each of these models appealing? Why are they sometimes embraced by patients or health care providers? What are the benefits and disadvantages of using each of these models with cancer patients? What happens when the health care provider and patient hold different models regarding the patient's responsibility or participation in the cause of the disease or its treatment? Further research is needed to determine the conditions under which a particular model results in better health outcomes for patients, and to assess how factors such as extent of disease or type of cancer influence the patient's choice of a model.