Physical activity has increasingly gained attention within palliative care. This article aims to explore how the idea of physical activity influences patients with advanced cancer and health-care professionals’ interactions. The empirical material was gathered as part of an anthropological field study about palliative care needs among 16 patients with advanced cancer, consisting of observations and interviews with patients, relatives, and professionals. Two of the patient cases were analyzed, inspired by Goffman’s theory, showing how patients and health-care professionals interact in relation to physical activity. The findings show that patients played roles either embracing physical activity or distancing it by postponement. Professionals played expert roles of duty and attachment, stressing the importance of physical activity. Thus, they accepted a minimum of physical activity when patients were close to death. Professionals regarded patients’ absence of physical activity as a lack of desire to live; patients regard it as a way to live.
BanerjeeA. (2008). Disciplining death: Hypertension management and the production of mortal subjectivities. Health, 12(1), 25–42.
2.
BaumanZ. (1993). Scandal of death. New Statesman and Society, 6(248), 21.
3.
BaumanZ. (2013). Mortality, immortality and other life strategies. Polity Press.
4.
BrownG. (2017). The future of death and the four pathways to immortality. In JacobsenM. H. (Ed.), Postmortal society. Towards a sociology of immortality (pp. 40–56). Routledge.
5.
CavicoF. J.MufflerS. C.MujtabaB. G. (2012). Appearance discrimination, “lookism” and “lookphobia”. The workplace. Journal of Applied Business Research, 28(5), 791–802.
6.
CohenJ.DeliensL. (2012). A public health perspective on end of life care. Oxford University Press.
7.
DworkinS. L.WachsF. L. (2009). Body panic: Gender, health and the selling of fitness. New York University Press.
8.
EliasN. (1985). Loneliness of the dying. Blackwell.
9.
EngströmL. (2012). The clinic moves to the home: Nursing institutional practice in specialized palliative homecare [Doctoral dissertation]. Uppsala University.
10.
FlyvbjergB. (2006). Five misunderstandings about case-study research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219–245.
11.
GlasdamS.EkstrandF.RosbergM.van der SchaafA.-M. (2020). A gap between the philosophy and the practice of palliative healthcare: Sociological perspectives on the practice of nurses in specialised palliative homecare. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 23, 141–152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-019-09918-2.
12.
GoffmanE. (1955). On face-work: An analysis of ritual elements in social interaction. Psychiatry: Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes, 18, 213–231.
13.
GoffmanE. (1963). Stigma. Penguin.
14.
GoffmanE. (1967). Interaction ritual: Essays on face-to-face behavior. Anchor Books.
15.
GoffmanE. (1990). The presentation of self in everyday life. Penguin.
16.
GokalK. (2015). Effects of physical activity on cognitive and psychosocial functioning in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: A randomised controlled trial [Doctoral dissertation]. Loughborough University.
17.
GuldeI.OldervollL. M.MartinC. (2011). Palliative cancer patients’ experience of physical activity. Journal of Palliative Care, 27(3), 296–302.
18.
HoeyerK.DahlagerL.LynoeN. (2005). Conflicting notions of research ethics. The mutually challenging traditions of social scientists and medical researchers. Social Science & Medicine, 61(8), 1741–1749.
19.
JacobsenM. H. (Ed.). (2017). Postmortal society. Towards a sociology of immortality. Routledge.
20.
JensenW.BaumannF.SteinA.BlochW.BokemeyerC.de WitM.OechsleK. (2014). Exercise training in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer undergoing palliative chemotherapy: A pilot study. Supportive Care in Cancer, 22(7), 1797–1806.
21.
Jeste, D. V., Savla, G. N., Thompson, W. K., Vahia, I. V., Glorioso, D. K., Martin, A. S., Palmer, B. W., Rock, D., Golshan, S., Kraemer, H. C., & Depp, C. A. (2013). Association Between Older Age and More Successful Aging: Critical Role of Resilience and Depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 170(2), 188--196. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.12030386
22.
KatzS.MarshallB. L. (2018). Tracked and fit: FitBits, brain games, and the quantified aging body. Journal of Aging Studies, 45(2018), 63–68.
23.
KishidaM.ElavskyS. (2015). Daily physical activity enhances resilient resources for symptom management in middle-aged women. Health Psychology, 34(7), 756–764.
24.
LahartI. M.MetsiosG. S.NevillA. M.CarmichaelA. R. (2018). Physical activity for women with breast cancer after adjuvant therapy (Protocol). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 1. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011292.pub2
25.
LassenA. J. (2014). Active ageing and the unmaking of old age: The knowledge productions, everyday practices and policies of the good late life [Doctoral dissertation]. Copenhagen University.
26.
LoprinzeP. D.BeetsM. W. (2014). Need for increased promotion of physical activity by health care professionals. Preventive Medicine, 69, 75–79.
27.
LoughneyL. (2017). The effect of neoadjuvant cancer treatment and exercise training on physical fitness and physical activity levels before elective rectal surgery [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Southampton.
28.
LoweS. S.TanM.FailyJ.WatanabeM. S.CourneyaK. S. (2016). Physical activity in advanced cancer patients: A systematic review protocol. Systematic Reviews, 5, 43.
29.
MacintyreS.MutriN. (2004). Socio-economic differences in cardiovascular disease and physical activity: Stereotypes and reality. The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, JRSH, 124(2), 66–69.
30.
Martin, A., Distelberg, B., & Elahad, J. (2015). The Relationship Between Family Resilience and Aging Successfully. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 43(2), 163--179. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2014.988593
31.
MayP.CasselJ. B. (2018). Economic outcomes in palliative and end-of-life care: Current state of affairs. Annals of Palliative Medicine, 7(Suppl 3), S244–S248.
32.
Montross, L. P., Depp, C., Daly, J., Reichstadt, J., Golshan, S., Moore, D., Sitzer, D., & Jeste, D. V. (2006). Correlates of Self-Rated Successful Aging Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14(1), 43--51. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.JGP.0000192489.43179.31
33.
NilssonH.AngeråsU.BockD.BörjessonM.OnerupA.OlsenM. F., … AngeneteE. (2016). Is preoperative physical activity related to post-surgery recovery? A cohort study of patients with breast cancer. BMJ Open, 6, 1.
34.
NyatangaB. (2017). Physical exercise for those living with and beyond cancer: Changing perceptions in palliative caring. British Journal of Community Nursing, 22(6), 308.
35.
OeyeC.SorensenN. O.GlasdamS. (2016). Qualitative research ethics on the spot: Not only on the desktop. Nursing Ethics, 23(4), 455–464.
36.
OeyeS.MekkiT. E.SkårR.DahlH.FørlandO.JacobsenF. F. (2015). Evidence molded by contact with staff culture and patient milieu: An analysis of the social process of knowledge utilization in nursing homes. Vocations and Learning, 8(3), 319–334.
37.
Parry, S. M., Knight, L. D., Connolly, B., Baldwin, C., Puthucheary, Z., Morris, P., Mortimore, J., Hart, N., Denehy, L., & Granger, C. L. (2017). Factors influencing physical activity and rehabilitation in survivors of critical illness: A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Intensive Care Med Intensive Care Medicine, 43(4), 531--542.
38.
PescosolidoB. A.MartinJ. K.LangA.OlafsdottirS. (2008). Rethinking theoretical approaches to stigma: A framework integrating normative influences on stigma (FINIS). Social Science & Medicine, 67, 431–440.
39.
RaunkiærM. (2007). At være døende hjemme: Hverdagsliv og idealer [To be dying at home: Everyday life and ideals] [Doctoral dissertation]. Lund University.
40.
Redzovic, S., & Eide, A. H. (2017). Culture and participation (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315628554-5
41.
SercuC.BrackeP. (2016). Stigma as a structural power in mental health care reform: An ethnographic study among mental health care professionals in Belgium. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 30, 710–716.
42.
ShakyaH. B.ChristakisN. A.FowlerJ. H. (2015). Self-comparisons as motivators for healthy behavior. Obesity, 23(12), 2477–2484.
43.
SmithA.HaycockD. (2016). Families, youth and extra-curricular activity. Implications for physical education and school sport. In DagkasS.BurrowsL. (Eds.), Families, young people, physical activities and health. Critical perspectives (pp. 181–192). Routledge.
44.
Smith-TurchynJ.RichardsonJ.TozerR.McneelyM.ThabaneL. (2016). Physical activity and breast cancer: A qualitative study on the barriers to and facilitators of exercise promotion from the perspective of health care professionals. Physiotherapy Canada, 68(4), 383–390.
45.
SudmannT. T.GlasdamS. (2019). Medikalisering af hverdagsaktiviteter gennem brug af fysisk aktivitet [Medicalisation of everyday activities through physical activities]. In S. Glasdam & H. B. Boelsbjerg (Eds.), Folkesundhed – Bag om intentioner og strategier [Public health – Behind strategies and intentions] (pp. 276–289). Gads Forlag.
46.
TammelinT.SyväojaH.BuggeA.FrobergK. (2017). Different solutions from Finnish and Danish school systems for increasing school-day physical activity and supporting learning. A top-down or bottom-up approach. In MeeusenR.SchaeferS.TomporowskiP.BaileyR. (Eds.), Physical activity and educational achievement insights from exercise neuroscience insights from exercise neuroscience (pp. 317–334). Routledge.
47.
TimmH. (2008). Foranderlighed og forgængelighed – Kropsforståelser af syge og døende mennesker [Changes and impermanence. Understanding of body among severely ill and dying persons]. In M. H. Jacobsen & M. Haakonson (Eds.), Memento mori, døden I Danmark I tværfagligt lys [Memento mori, the death in Denmark in a cross-disciplinary light] (pp. 50–64). Syddansk Universitetsforlag.
48.
Vahia, I., Thompson, W., Depp, C., Allison, M., & Jeste, D. (2012). Developing a dimensional model for successful cognitive and emotional aging. International Psychogeriatrics, 24(4), 515-523. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610211002055
49.
Volkwein-CaplanK.McConathaJ. T. (Eds.). (2018). Ageing, physical activity and health. International perspectives. Routledge.
50.
WackerhausenS. (1998). What is natural?Deciding what to do and not to do in medicine and health care. Aarhus University.
51.
WallinL. (2009). Knowledge translation and implementation research in nursing. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46, 576–587.
52.
WalterT. (1991). Modern death: Taboo or not taboo?Sociology, 25(2), 293–310.
53.
WalterT. (2008). The sociology of death. Sociology Compass, 2(1), 317–336.
54.
WarburtonD. E. R.NicolC. W.BredinS. S. D. (2006). Health benefits of physical activity: The evidence. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 174(6), 801–809.
55.
WardenS. J.Mantila RoosaS. M.MarianaE. K.HurdA. L.FleisigG. S.PandyM. G.FuchsR. K. (2014). Physical activity when young provides lifelong benefits to cortical bone size and strength in me. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(14), 5337–5342.
56.
WiskemannJ.HummlerS.DiepoldC.KeilM.AbelU.SteindorfK., . . ThomasM. (2016). POSITIVE study: Physical exercise program in non-operable lung cancer patients undergoing palliative treatment (Report). BMC Cancer, 16(1), 2725–2737.
57.
World Health Organization. (2002). Active ageing: A policy framework.
58.
World Medical Association. (2013). WMA Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects.
