February 11, 2019

Today we commemorate World Cancer Day to raise awareness and education about the disease. The annual event aims to reduce preventable deaths, and mitigate the impact that cancer has on individuals, families and communities.

Assoc. Prof. Lee Geok Ling et. al. (Dept. of Social Work) took particular interest in Singaporean Chinese patients with advanced cancer. The qualitative study sought to understand this community’s perceptions and concerns of health-related quality of life issues. The researchers found that understandings of pain and suffering went beyond physical pain to include mental suffering. Another trend observed was the presence of secrecy in interpersonal relationships. Patients often hid their illness from friends to avoid stigmatisation, and hid their suffering from family members to avoid causing emotional distress to the family. Secrecy is closely associated with unique Asian concepts of dignity and face, whereby patients seek to enhance respect and prevent loss of face with regard to social support. Therefore, Assoc. Prof. Lee’s study reveals the importance and value of developing culturally relevant frameworks to achieve a more holistic understanding of the subjective experience of cancer, and uncover the diverse interpretations of what constitutes good quality of life, health-wise.