Objective: The objectives were to establish whether a cancer diagnosis during young adulthood carries with it particular problems related to life stage and to understand the impact upon the family of origin who tend to be the carers of young adults with cancer. Results would not only provide information for the use of parents in such a situation, but also assist health professionals engaged in the care of young adults with cancer.
Method: The innovative methodology chosen to research this phenomenon was a qualitative "narrative correspondence" method. An appeal for narratives was distributed through palliative care networks to parents of young adults who had been diagnosed with cancer. This method was selected as the most ethically appropriate as it allowed parents to choose whether or not to participate without pressure. The appeal resulted in the submission of parents' accounts about 28 young adults with cancer, all but 7 of whom had died.
Results: The results suggest strongly that the parents and families of young adults diagnosed with cancer face particular difficulties because of their son or daughter's life stage, and these difficulties can disrupt family dynamics to a significant extent. Themes addressed in the data include: the loss independence at a crucial transitional stage, the threat to "normality", the impact on siblings, the threat to fertility and the breakdown of newly established sexual relationships, and confusion over the ownership of the medical information.
Conclusions: The results indicate that life stage does indeed have an additional and negative impact on families. The increased understanding of the issues produced through the research will be of use to parents struggling with such problems in their own family. In addition the results contribute significantly to the practice of palliative care and are thus considered to be helpful to health professionals engaged in the support of young adults with cancer.