The impact of surviving bowel cancer on occupation: A scoping review

Abstract

Introduction The number of people surviving bowel cancer is increasing globally, with many of those affected living with long-term psychological and physical sequelae that potentially disrupt occupations. Method A scoping review – guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework – was conducted to provide an overview of what is known about the impact of having had bowel cancer on occupations, and to reveal the potential role of occupational therapy. A systematic search of four databases and a grey literature repository generated 244 results. Applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 33 items addressing bowel cancer and occupations were selected and thematically analysed. Results Researchers have identified six domains of occupation that are impacted by bowel cancer (social activity, physical activity, sexual activity, employment and role functioning, physical functioning, and self-care) but survivors report a distinct lack of health professional support after completion of medical treatment and being left to devise self-management strategies to accommodate the long-term effects of their cancer. Conclusion The sequelae of bowel cancer can have a significant impact on occupational participation. There is scope for increasing and improving occupational therapy input to assist people with cancer-related loss of function to re-engage in valued occupations and improve wellbeing.

The occupational impact of bowel cancer: Survivors' voices and advancing the role of occupational therapy assessment and intervention

“…Prior to each interview a consent form was signed by participants. The first round of interviews used an interview guide informed by the results of a scoping review (Martin et al, 2020b). The interview guide included questions such as ‘Have you done things – or plan to do things – you wouldn't have done before diagnosis?’ and ‘Do you think the ongoing effects have affected your relationships?…”

“…Bowel cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer worldwide (Arnold et al, 2017) and recent improvements to survival rate have resulted in it being considered a chronic rather than acute condition (Grimmett et al, 2017). Many bowel cancer survivors experience ongoing impacts in multiple areas including psychological (Martin et al, 2020b), cognitive (Martin et al, 2020a), social, physical (Breedveld‐Peters et al, 2020), sexual (Martin et al, 2020b), self‐care, employment, and role functioning (Beesley et al, 2017; Martin et al, 2020b).…”

“…However, efforts to improve rehabilitation care often do not focus on cancer survivors (Sleight & Stein Duker, 2016). Consequently, survivors feel abandoned as they transition from cancer patient to survivor (Drury et al, 2017; Martin et al, 2020b) due to the implicit expectation from clinicians that the survivor will actively manage their own care (Jansen et al, 2015). Shipp et al (2015) explored the impact of having had bowel cancer on leisure participation, however, little is generally known about the experiences of survivors as they make this transition and the occupational impact of having had bowel cancer.…”

Doing, being, becoming, and belonging: Experiences transitioning from bowel cancer patient to survivor

“…There is evidence to support the idea that there is a significant occupational impact on people who transition from bowel cancer patient to survivor. A scoping review exploring how people's occupations were affected by that transition revealed social occupations, physical activity levels and physical capacity to engage in occupation, sexual activity, self-care, employment, and role functioning were all impacted (Martin et al, 2020). As indicated by these examples, much emphasis in literature and the media is given to the 'doing' of survival, including the 'battle' to carry on living.…”

Managing employment among pre-retirement aged cancer survivors

“…Cancer can cause multiple impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions (Hewitt and Ganz, 2007; Martin et al., 2020). Many cancer survivors report declines in physical functioning and engagement in work (Kroenke et al., 2004).…”