The concept of friendship in adolescents with cancer: Reflections and experiences

Abstract

Cancer can erupt in an adolescent's life, damaging his or her multidimensional balance with its burden of physical suffering, changes in appearance, and anxiety, interrupting their activities, keeping them away from school, and isolating them socially. It is crucially important for adolescents with cancer to be able to feel the same as before, to feel they belong to a group of schoolmates. This is not always easy to achieve. Their peers sometimes lack the necessary resources to treat adolescents with cancer as normal ones, responding instead with pity or avoidance. This article discusses the concept of friendship in adolescents with cancer, based on direct experience of being with them, personal reflections, and texts chosen and shared with the patients, as part of the cultural activities dedicated to adolescents and young adults with cancer at the Youth Area of the Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano, and the Youth Project at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy.

Needs, Barriers and Facilitators of Adolescents Participating in a Lifestyle Promotion Program in Oncology: Stakeholders, Adolescents and Parents’ Perspective

“…Similar to our study, the need to connect with other adolescents living a comparable situation in addition to preserving friendships has been reported in children and AYAs during and after cancer treatments [ 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ]. This consists of an important unmet need as adolescents and AYAs usually receive care in a pediatric hospital with younger children or in adult care settings [ 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 ]. This has been mentioned in a study exploring the needs of AYAs treated for cancer in adult surgery clinics in which they expressed their preference to be treated alongside patients their own age, rather than older adults [ 74 ].…”

Discussing communication issues and needs with adolescents with cancer

“…They talked about how angry and lost they felt, and told us that cursing could help express such feelings (parents being often the target), but also they talked about the importance of having a professional to guide them, and friends on the ward to share their experiences with. 7 They told us that things were difficult from the psychological and relational standpoint afterwards, when the treatments finished, experienced as a disorienting time of uncertainty: returning to daily life was difficult because patients saw themselves as having changed and the world looked differently from before.…”

Cancer care and well‐being in adolescents and young adults during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: A UK sarcoma perspective

“…A sense of belonging among peers and the ability to maintain connections is important for AYAs to reduce social isolation and emotional distress. 4,5 Pre-pandemic, AYAs with cancer may have cherished the opportunity to take their chemotherapy infusion in a backpack to the movies with friends. The pandemic has isolated AYAs, with longer, more intensive shielding compared with peers.…”