Through the looking glass: highlighting the challenges facing healthcare professionals who have cancer

Abstract

Background: Little is known directly about the experiences of health professionals with cancer. Current studies mainly employ pathographies as the information source and focus on doctors experiences only. Objective: This paper aims to build upon our understanding of healthcare professionals who have cancer and considers practical management of barriers and gaps in care. Method: It uses conductive research to analyse and critique available studies, highlighting the experiences of health professionals throughout their diagnosis and treatment. It additionally presents thematic clinical observations, reflecting additional experiences noted by the author during her own therapeutic practice. Results: The findings reflect a disparity between treatment of healthcare professionals suffering from cancer as compared to the general patient population. Conclusions: A number of recommendations are made to support healthcare colleagues to facilitate the care offered to this group of patients.