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Psychosocial issues for adolescent and young adult cancer patients in a global context: A forward‐looking approach
Author(s) -
Levin Nina Jackson,
Zebrack Bradley,
Cole Steve W.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
pediatric blood and cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.116
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1545-5017
pISSN - 1545-5009
DOI - 10.1002/pbc.27789
Subject(s) - psychosocial , normative , context (archaeology) , diversity (politics) , medicine , developmental psychology , young adult , quality of life (healthcare) , gerontology , psychology , psychiatry , nursing , sociology , epistemology , anthropology , biology , paleontology , philosophy
The first decade of adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology psychosocial care and research (2005–2015) was driven by a normative, developmental framework that assumed a generalizable life experience for AYAs that is distinct from both younger children and older adults. As we proceed through a second decade, new considerations emerge regarding diversity of life experiences as occurring within and influenced by a complex global context. The purpose of this paper is to review and provide commentary on the impact of global and contextual conditions on AYAs. We expound upon the effects of precarious labor conditions, changing timetables and priorities for developmental tasks, sexual and gender plurality, and expanding cultural diversity. We discuss the implications of social genomics and technology and social media for enhancing precision psychosocial medicine. To build a forward‐looking approach, this paper calls for tailored, multilevel treatments that consider variability of AYAs within the social and global contexts in which they live.