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Unmet needs in adolescents and young adults with cancer: A mixed-method study using social media
Eunju Choi1, Heather Becker2, Soojeong Kim2
1Department of Nursing, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study is to identify and compare the unmet needs of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer by age and gender.
Design And Methods:
This is a mixed-methods study to analyze textual data from blog posts on AYAs' unmet needs. Themes were identified using a qualitative descriptive method with content analysis, and a quantitative method was used to compare themes by age and gender.
Results:
The findings from blog posts of 100 AYAs showed that AYAs with cancer expressed somewhat different needs by age and gender. Young adults (26-39 years) with cancer tended to describe significantly more feelings of fear (p = .043) and parenting needs (p < .001) and significantly fewer educational needs (p < .001) than did emerging adults (18-25 years) with cancer. Female AYAs with cancer described significantly more feelings of guilt (p = .020), sexual needs (p = .003), fertility issues (p = .023), and social needs (p = .013) than did male AYAs with cancer. There were no statistically significant differences in the remaining themes between age and gender groups, although how they described unmet needs differed qualitatively.
Conclusions:
AYAs with cancer have various unmet needs and their unmet needs were different by age and gender.
Practice Implications:
Nurses should proactively provide integrated systematic screening by offering a safe, non-judgmental environment to encourage AYAs to express their needs across their cancer journey. Nurses also should respond with developmentally appropriate support, resources, and referrals based on these expressed needs.
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