Although serious illness is often associated with aging in contemporary society, increasing numbers of young adults are being diagnosed with a variety of serious illnesses. In order to learn more about what it is like to be seriously ill during young adulthood, I completed a qualitative study with ten young women who had recently been affected by a life-threatening or chronic illness. The research was informed by a theoretical approach based on social constructionist and phenomenological principles that recognize that physiological processes such
as illness are socially mediated and given meaning within a certain socio-cultural context. Thus,the life course and its corresponding stages are not universal or biologically determined, but
rather are social constructions based on socio-cultural factors and the meanings given to certain
biological events. This research involved participants between the ages of 20 and 37 from around Saskatchewan who had been affected by a serious illness within the previous three years. The methodological approach that I utilized was interpretive and drew upon phenomenological,
feminist, and participatory visual approaches to qualitative research. The young women participated in phenomenological interviews and a photovoice project that explored their lived
experiences of serious illness and the specific issues that they faced because of illness. I
analyzed the data thematically, incorporating phenomenological concepts of embodiment,
temporality, and relationality. Although the interview and photographic data highlighted a range of experiences, the data highlighted several similarities among participants. Foremost, the data revealed that serious illness was highly disruptive for the young women; specifically, participants were required to negotiate disruptions to their sense of embodiment, everyday lives, expectations for the future, and social relationships. Ultimately, serious illness brought about embodied and social experiences that conflicted with how participants had previously envisioned young adulthood and their life course. As such, their experiences of illness had profound implications for their self identity and brought about a complex process of trying to make sense of illness. Based on these findings, I conclude that the young women experienced and made sense of illness within the context of socio-cultural expectations related to age and the life course, as well as gender. I also identify the implications of this research for health care and support services aimed at this population.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-12172010-185206 |
| Date | 20 December 2010 |
| Creators | Burles, Meridith Clare |
| Contributors | Teucher, Ulrich, Poudrier, Jennifer, Thomas-MacLean, Roanne, Lafrance, Michelle, Goodridge, Donna |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | University of Saskatchewan Library |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-12172010-185206/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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