Conversing with Cancer

Lisa Sparks and Anna Leahy

Conversing with Cancer

How to Ask Questions,
Find and Share Information,
and Make the Best Decisions

PETER LANG

New York • Bern • Berlin

Brussels • Vienna • Oxford • Warsaw

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sparks, Lisa, author. | Leahy, Anna, author.
Title: Conversing with cancer: how to ask questions, find and share
information, and make the best decisions / Lisa Sparks and Anna Leahy.
Description: New York: Peter Lang, 2018.
Series: Language as social action; vol. 22 | ISSN 1529-2436
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017030332 | ISBN 978-1-4331-3354-1 (hardback: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4331-3353-4 (paperback: alk. paper) | ISBN 978-1-4331-3900-0 (ebook pdf)
ISBN 978-1-4331-3901-7 (epub) | ISBN 978-1-4331-3902-4 (mobi)
Subjects: LCSH: Cancer—Social aspects.
Cancer—Psychological aspects.
Communication in medicine.
Classification: LCC RC262 .S64 | DDC 362.19699/4—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017030332
DOI 10.3726/b13286

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

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All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
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About the authors

Lisa Sparks (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma) is Dean of the School of Communication at Chapman University, Orange, California. Dr. Sparks is a highly regarded teacher-scholar whose published work spans more than 150 research articles and scholarly book chapters and is the author and editor of more than ten books in the areas of communication, health, and aging with a distinct focus on intersections of provider–patient interaction and family decision-making as related to cancer communication science. Her innovative research has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, and TED.

Anna Leahy (Ph.D., Ohio University; M.F.A., University of Maryland) is the author of Tumor and Aperture and co-author of Generation Space and What We Talk about When We Talk about Creative Writing. She is Director of the M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Chapman University, Orange, California, where she edits the international journal TAB. See more at www.amleahy.com and follow @AMLeahy.

About the book

With more than 40% of people eventually facing a cancer diagnosis, Conversing with Cancer is a much-needed addition to understanding and improving cancer care through strong communication among providers, patients, and caregivers. Each person whose life is affected by a cancer diagnosis—patient, healthcare provider, caregiver—has information and needs information in order to make the best decisions possible under the circumstances. After studying and writing about the topics of communication and cancer for many years separately, authors Lisa Sparks and Anna Leahy combine their expertise in this new tour de force. Here, they apply principles from the field of health communication to the cancer care experience, drawing from a wide range of scholarship to offer a comprehensive view of cancer care communication and extend existing work into new insights. Engaging chapters cover all phases of the journey through cancer, from prevention to recovery or end-of-life; analyze the roles of the variety of cultural and social identities and relationships; and explore written, verbal, non-verbal, and electronic communication. In addition, this book draws from the real-life stories of cancer patients themselves to enrich the book’s unique discussions and to better understand how theory can be put into practice. Conversing with Cancer is ideal for use in health communication classes, medical and nursing programs, and formal caregiver training. In addition, it is useful for cancer patient and caregiver supports groups and for individual providers, patients, and caregivers.

This eBook can be cited

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

Table of contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. Introduction to Conversing with Cancer

Chapter 2. Talk, Talk: Understanding Health Communication, Health Literacy, and Cancer

Exercise & Discussion

Chapter 3. The Big C: Culture and Cancer Care

Exercise & Discussion

Chapter 4. Who’s Who: Social Identity and Cancer Care

Exercise & Discussion

Chapter 5. Citizens of Cancer Land: Cancer Communication Across a Lifetime

Exercise & Discussion

Chapter 6. Navigating the Landscape: Communication in Cancer Care Organizations

Exercise & Discussion

Chapter 7. What’s Up, Doc?: Patients and Healthcare Providers in Conversation

Exercise & Discussion ←7 | 8→

Chapter 8. Giving Care, Taking Care: Caregivers and Communication

Exercise & Discussion

Chapter 9. Warrior or Citizen?: Metaphors and Messages in Cancer Care

Exercise & Discussion

Chapter 10. Can You Hear Me Now?: Technology and Communication in Cancer Care

Exercise & Discussion

Chapter 11. Extending the Conversation: A New Theoretical Model for Cancer Communication

Exercise & Discussion

Chapter 12. Epilogue: Mottos Moving Forward

Appendix A: Glossary

Appendix B: Suggested Online Resources for Expanded Discussion

Index

←8 | 9→

Acknowledgments

We extend sincere thanks and acknowledgement to Howie Giles, a strong mentor in the field of communication. We also acknowledge the many at Peter Lang for making this book and the Language as Social Action series happen. We are truly grateful for this opportunity to contribute to the ongoing conversation about health communication and cancer care and to make a difference in the lives of patients and their families.

Sincere thanks to Chapman University undergraduate students Shoshanna Feld-Sobol and Brooke Grogan. Also, thanks to graduate students Mike Gravagno, Samantha Mountjoy, Mackenzie Bates, Alysia Hendry, and Devin Valasco for the many ways they helped shape this book, especially the penultimate chapter and the glossary. Also, thanks to Mary Cantrell, Brigid Leahy, Paulette Livers, and Patricia Grace King for their editorial acumen and suggestions as we drafted early chapters. Finally, to those many individuals who have written about their experiences in their own books and blogs and, in some cases, in personal exchanges with us, we are grateful to be able to talk about their stories in Conversing with Cancer.

Each chapter begins with an epigraph drawn from a poem. We thank the authors for their permission (with all rights reserved) to include an excerpt or whole poem, as space and topic allowed:←9 | 10→