The interplay between ovarian cancer and social relationships: an analysis of patients’ metaphors

Abstract

Objective

Research showed that ovarian cancer poses unique challenges to patients’ care experiences and that patients’ social networks could affect their care path significantly. The present study aimed to analyse the metaphors that patients used to signify the impact of the illness on their social relationships and the role of relationships in dealing with cancer.

Design

Following a qualitative description approach we conducted 38 semi-structured interviews with Australian (14) and Italian (24) women diagnosed at different stages of ovarian cancer.

Results

The analysis identified four themes bringing together the meanings expressed by participants’ metaphors: Lack of comprehension and communication; Isolation, marginalisation, and self-isolation; Discrepancy between the private and public self; and Social relationships as empowerment resources.

Conclusion

The polysemic nature of patients’ metaphors captures both the empowering and especially disempowering role of social relationships in dealing with ovarian cancer. Results also show that metaphors are used to make sense of the impact of ovarian cancer on social relationships and to express different strategies for managing patients’ networks.

Keywords:

• Ovarian cancer
• metaphor
• patient
• social relationships
• Australia
• Italy

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Data availability statement

Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.

Notes

1 The letters after each participant’s quotations indicate whether the extract is taken from an Australian (A) or Italian (I) interviewee.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.