Journal article
Missed opportunities to promote flourishing in cancer care: a brief examination of multiple myeloma
Supportive Care in Cancer, Vol.34(8), pp.1-8
2026
PMCID: PMC13346150
PMID: 42420598
Abstract
Recent theoretical and empirical advancements in well-being science can have meaningful implications for medical care when considering existential issues faced by people with incurable or life-limiting cancer diagnoses. We propose that certain elements of flourishing, such as meaning and purpose, deep personal relationships, and cultivating virtue, can be uniquely realized if targeted appropriately toward the end of life. Qualitative thematic analysis of semistructured interviews was conducted to explore the experiences and unmet psychological needs of people living with the blood cancer multiple myeloma and, precursor, smoldering myeloma to identify key themes related to the potential for flourishing at the end of life. Interview data was obtained from 25 participants (multiple myeloma n = 24, smoldering myeloma n = 4) and 10 health professionals with clinical expertise supporting or treating patients with multiple myeloma. Participants reported personal growth following their diagnosis through acceptance, meaning-making, and connection, yet reported the loneliness of dying with cancer with a desire to have discussions about death with their clinicians in addition to them maintaining treatment. On the contrary, health professionals were hesitant to discuss death with their patients, balancing hope in treatments with preparation for dying. We argue that the hesitation to discuss death thwarts the opportunity to flourish and that existing solutions such as dignity therapy, meaning-centered psychotherapy, early palliative care, and multidisciplinary support can close this gap without diminishing hope in treatments.
Details
- Title
- Missed opportunities to promote flourishing in cancer care: a brief examination of multiple myeloma
- Authors
- Natalie Tuckey (Corresponding Author) - Adelaide UniversityHannah R. Wardill - Adelaide UniversityXavier Symons - Harvard UniversityMelissa Cantley - Adelaide UniversityKathina Ali - University of the Sunshine CoastHayley Beer - New South Wales Institute of PsychiatryGregory B. Crawford - Adelaide UniversityAngelina Yong - SA HealthMatthew Iasiello - Adelaide University
- Publication details
- Supportive Care in Cancer, Vol.34(8), pp.1-8
- Publisher
- Springer
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00520-026-10978-3
- ISSN
- 1433-7339
- PMID
- 42420598; PMC13346150
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Data Availability
- No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
- Grant note
- Funding for this research has been provided from the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Psychology
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991246196002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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