Globally, cancer is renowned as the top leading cause of death. Given the severity of this illness, cancer patients often experience different problems ranging from psychological adjustment and physiological changes to a financial burden. Counselling cancer patients is one treatment option provided to provide support and constructive coping of uncertain outcomes. The present case study aimed to explore the counsellors' perspectives in counselling with cancer patients and cancer patients' views in counselling. This research study utilised a qualitative case study design to investigate the patients' and counsellors' perspectives in-depth. A professional counsellor who has experience in counselling cancer patients and cancer patients was recruited to learn about central importance issues in this study. Six themes have emerged from the research: (1) opinion about cancer, (2) opinion regarding counselling with cancer patients in Malaysia, (3) problems and concerns surround cancer patients, (4) difficulties and challenges working with cancer patients, (5) needs of the terminally ill, and (6) strategies and recommendations in counselling cancer patients. The finding provides professional counsellors with some indications in working together with cancer patients and terminally ill patients, which can be a complex and challenging process.
Cancer.Net. (2009). The benefits of counseling. Retrieved April 28, 2021, from the World Wide Web: http://www.cancer.net/patient/All+About+Cancer/Cancer.Net+Feature+Articles/Quality+of+Life/The+Benefits+of+Counseling
Chan S. L., Hutagalung, F. D., & Lau P. L. (2017). Healing experiences of Malaysian young adults recovering from major depressive disorder: A preliminary study. In Lumban Gaol et al. (Eds), Trends and Issues in Interdisciplinary Behavior and Social Science (pp. 1-8). London: Taylor & Francis Group.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). USA: Sage Publications.
Daneker, D. (2006). Counselors working with the Terminally Ill. Retrieved April 28, 2021, from the World Wide Web: http://counselingoutfitters.com/Daneker.htm
Doka, K. (2007). Counseling individuals with life-threatening illness. New York: Springer.
Laborde, K. L. (1998). Support systems: counseling for cancer. New Orleans Magazine, 33(2), 32-33.
Morse, J. M. (1994). Designing funded qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (p. 220–235). Sage Publications, Inc
Shriner, J. A. (2007). Caring for the terminally ill. Retrieved April 28, 2021, from the World Wide Web: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/pdf/Caring_Terminally_Ill.pdf
World Health Organization. (2021). Cancer. Retrieved April 3, 2021, from the World Wide Web: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer
Wright, N. (2009). Counseling adults with terminal illness: what every counselor in training should know. Retrieved April 28, 2021, from the World Wide Web: http://www.winona.edu/counseloreducation/capstones/2009/fall/counseling_adults_with_terminal_illness-what_every_counselor_should_know.pdf
In-Text Citation: (Voon & Chan, 2021)
To Cite this Article: Voon, S. P., & Chan, S. L. (2021). Counselling Cancer Patients: A Case Study of Perspectives of Professional Counsellors and Cancer Patients in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(17), 145–157.
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
