Cancer and communication: similarities and differences of men with cancer from six different ethnic groups.

Objective
To report the communication aspects of a pilot study, which explored the cancer meanings and experiences of six men with cancer and their significant others from different ethnic groups.
Design
Case study design using the principles of phenomenology. In-depth semi-structured individual interviews with men with cancer and their wives were conducted.
Setting
London, UK. Interviews took place in participants’ own homes.
Respondents
Six men with cancer and their wives from different ethnic groups.
Intervention
The pilot study explored the participants’ experiences and meanings of cancer. However, this paper only deals with the communication aspects of the findings.
Results
Ten themes emerged from the comparative analysis of the study’s data, with communication as a cross-cutting theme. Further analysis of this theme revealed similarities and differences of the participants’ experiences of communicating with health professionals; families or friends; and God/Allah. In addition, similarities and differences of communicating meanings of cancer in different cultures were revealed.
Conclusion
The findings revealed similarities in the way that men from these six cultures communicate with health professionals and their families following a diagnosis of cancer, and differences in how they communicated with God/Allah, which depended on their religious beliefs and practices.