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Promoting Post-Traumatic Growth among Taiwanese Cancer Survivors: Cultural Issues

Yun-Hsiang Lee, Jui-Chun Chan, In-Fun Li, Yvonne Hsiung

Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is a phenomenon notable among cancer survivors who endure aggressive, lifethreatening treatment of severe illnesses. Such growth manifests through improved physical health, strengthened psycho-spiritual resilience, intensified coping skills, and better utilization of resources. Due to the scarce literature, the link between cancer survivorship and PTG remains unclear in Taiwan and further complicated by cultural issues. Presented in this article are summated findings from cross-cultural literature of PTG among cancer survivors, particularly various observations of posttraumatic stress and coping between Eastern and Western cultures. Clinical implications are followed to encourage health care providers to cogitate culture-specific meanings in survivors’ cancer-related posttraumatic experiences. There lies a cultural need to fill in the knowledge gap in order to ultimately promote PTG and improve cancer survivors’ quality of post-cancer life in Taiwan.