Helpful and unhelpful aspects to the war themes

When someone is coping with a cancer diagnosis, words matter tremendously. In this Discussion Forum assignment, you are asked to read both short articles and respond to the prompts for ONE of them..

In your responses to a classmate, please choose to review at least one post from someone who focused on the other article and explore the topic further, including your own reactions.

TOPIC A: WINNERS AND LOSERS
In oncology, terms with war themes are commonly heard. “Battling cancer”, “losing his fight” are terms that equate cancer treatment with fighting a war. These phrases are closely held by patients as well as providers but can come with hidden costs. Read the article, “Words Matter: Why Cancer Isn’t a Game of Winners or Losers” (Ennis-O’Connor, 2019) and respond to the below prompts. https://powerfulpatients.org/2019/04/24/words-matter-why-cancer-isnt-a-game-of-winners-or-losers/

Describe your reaction to this article.

Are there helpful and unhelpful aspects to the war themes often heard in the words we use to talk about cancer? Discuss your response.

As an oncology social worker, what could you do to support the patient/family/caregiver struggling with these terms (ex. “failing” or “giving up” treatment, “losing” their battle)?

Ennis-O’Connor, M. (2019). Words matter: why cancer isn’t a game of winners or losers. Patient Empowerment Network. Retrieved from https://powerfulpatients.org/2019/04/24/words-matt…

TOPIC B: POSITIVITY
An oncology social worker will commonly hear the expectation of “positivity” or keeping “a positive attitude” placed on patients. Sometimes patients expect this of themselves, sometimes the expectation is given by family or friends and sometimes even strangers or the media. But the sentiment is often, ”people say/I think/media says I should be positive and I just don’t feel positively about this experience”.? Read the article, “Attitudes and Cancer” (American Cancer Society, 2014) and respond to the below prompts. https://www.cancer.org/treatment/survivorship-during-and-after-treatment/coping/attitudes-and-feelings-about-cancer.html

Describe your reaction to this article.

Are there helpful and unhelpful aspects to the expectation of positivity? Discuss your response.

As an oncology social worker, what could you do to support the patient/family/caregiver who is struggling to “be positive”?

American Cancer Society. (2014) Attitudes and cancer. Atlanta, GA: Retrieved from: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-basics/attitu…

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.