open access
Cancer as a chronic disease — a psychological perspective
open access
Abstract
Cancer is a disease that affects many people. Therefore, issue of proper psychological adaptation to the disease is of utmost importance and allows one to look for a better understanding in similar fields. Cancer has many common features with chronic diseases, despite the fact that it is not established whether it can be classified as a chronic disease. The first goal of this article is to confirm that according to the WHO definition, cancer indeed can be classified as a chronic disease. The second aim is to present implications of this assumption. Knowledge about the functioning of patients with chronic disease may be a source of hypotheses for psychological adjustment in cancer. Considering cancer as a chronic disease allows application of psychological understanding of chronic diseases to the study of cancer.
Abstract
Cancer is a disease that affects many people. Therefore, issue of proper psychological adaptation to the disease is of utmost importance and allows one to look for a better understanding in similar fields. Cancer has many common features with chronic diseases, despite the fact that it is not established whether it can be classified as a chronic disease. The first goal of this article is to confirm that according to the WHO definition, cancer indeed can be classified as a chronic disease. The second aim is to present implications of this assumption. Knowledge about the functioning of patients with chronic disease may be a source of hypotheses for psychological adjustment in cancer. Considering cancer as a chronic disease allows application of psychological understanding of chronic diseases to the study of cancer.
Keywords
cancer, chronic disease, psychological adjustment, psychological adaptation, WHO
About this articleTitle
Cancer as a chronic disease — a psychological perspective
Journal
Nowotwory. Journal of Oncology
Issue
Article type
Review paper
Pages
28-32
Published online
2018-06-20
Page views
879
Article views/downloads
903
DOI
Bibliographic record
Nowotwory. Journal of Oncology 2018;68(1):28-32.
Keywords
cancer
chronic disease
psychological adjustment
psychological adaptation
WHO
Authors
Monika Paleczna