Occupational performance and prioritized problematic everyday occupations among people with advanced cancer living alone versus living with someone

Abstract

Background People living at home with advanced cancer wish to maintain and preserve domestic life, but they experience several barriers in their everyday occupations and thereby occupational performance. There is little knowledge of these barriers experienced by people living alone versus people living with someone. Objective/Aim To investigate differences in self-perceived occupational performance and the prioritisation of getting self-reported problematic everyday occupations solved among people with advanced cancer, taking living status into consideration. Method A cross-sectional study using baseline data from an RCT including 174 participants with advanced cancer living at home. Difficulty and priorisation of everyday occupations were assessed using the Individually Prioritised Problem Assessment (IPPA). Results In total, 731 problematic everyday occupations were reported, mainly related to the categories of housework, self-care and leisure. Conclusions/significance Overall, no statistically significant difference in self-reported occupational performance was found. However, people living alone perceived statistically significantly more frequently showering/bathing and doing laundry as difficult and therefore important to address. In contrast, people living with someone prioritised social interaction and home maintenance statistically significantly more frequently.