The illness reframing process in an ethnic majority population of older people with incurable cancer: Cultural- and existential meaning-making analyses

Older, ethnic Norwegians with incurable cancer may experience different cultural processes, leading to different understandings and management of their clinical reality. Little is understood about how they reframe their illness experiences in light of existential meaningmaking adjustments. This article, part of a larger qualitative study, focused on specialized healthcare contexts. Four case illustrations were analyzed, representing the range of belief frameworks from the total group of 21 participants. Kleinman’s medical anthropology cultural framework was adapted for the data analysis. The case illustrations represented heterogeneous cultural processes. Independent of cultural variation, the illness reframing contributed positively to: new constructions of illness and health; improved relating to the surroundings; and adjustments made in daily living. The results point to the need for including culturaland existential meaning information in the clinical process for better understanding the patient’s framework of interpretations, and for identifying treatment planning resources.