Irish insights into the lived experience of breast cancer related lymphoedema: implications for occupation focused practice

Abstract

There is limited qualitative occupational research into the lived experience of breast cancer, with the international literature reporting that occupational therapy practice in oncology needs to be more occupation-focused. Based on a longitudinal, qualitative research design and using an existential phenomenological methodology, this paper reports on a group of Irish women’s experiences of living with breast cancer related lymphoedema (BCRL) in terms of their prescribed self-management conservative treatments. Three rounds of in-depth semi-structured interviews were collected over three years and were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results reveal that the women found compliance with self-management protocols for BCRL a difficult dilemma. The majority of the women deliberately risked their vulnerable arms in order to preserve familiar occupational performance and to express their occupational identities. It is argued that there is an important role for occupational therapists with this growing international population to enable occupation in ways that accommodate compliance with self-care protocols.