- This year (2008) I am doing honours year at uni to research the needs of YA diagnosed with cancer aged 25-40 years. (Currently tossing up the idea of extending the age to 44 years. *** I am interseted to find out who thinks people 40+ with cancer have similar issues to the 25-40 years ... or do you think their life issues and interests are possibly more related to older people (age 50+)?). I am leaning towards including the 40+ age group... I have asked many of my friends who have turned 40, and they have answered that they would like to be included as they want to live life to the fullest, just like us younger cancer survivors.
- Produce a report from this research study to increase the information from this age group.
- This report I hope will help me to gain funding to run a comprehensive web-based support service for YA,
- and run some retreats - possibly up here in beautiful Byron Bay (where I live).
- Working with the cancer council on setting up a YA discussion forum.
- Scheduled to present the YA issue at the Cancer Council of NSW's RAN 2008 Conference.
...thats about it for now...
I will endeavour to keep you posted on any progress, until then drop me a line or email me your thoughts and ideas!
best Nikki
.JPG)
Posts
2 comments:
IMHO the 40+ group are separate from 25-40 because of life changes including menopause (both sexes) and possible increased risk of cancer from HRT, testosterone patches and other therapies.
Being over 40 myself I can see how over-40s would like to be included in the younger group but you can't turn back the clock ;)
I totally acknowledge the previous comment and agree this is true however I think that perhaps its not as clear cut as that.
For many reasons it is always tricky defining the age group. You can have really youthful 50 year olds and yet have 40 year olds who are the opposite. I suppose the bottom line is that for your research, you just need to pick a defined group and go with it - knowing that there will always be some outside that group that probably should be included. I think you should think about what are the main issues \ themes that are coming up from the preliminary discussions \ information you have had- and then matching these themes to the age group that best suits your research. For example, if being able to have kids appears as an important theme, then cutting it off at 40 is probably a little early because there are many women (and men), especially now, who have children say up until 45. If there is a strong theme around being an active parent of children say into their mid teens when they start to become more independent, then you may need to extend the age group to around 50 because it would be very likely that someone aged 50 could have an early teenager. So I reckon you need to use some of your preliminary information about issues to help inform you of the age group for your project.
The other issue that you might want to take into consideration is if there is currently any other research that is related to this area, and if so, what age groups did they use. This is especially important if you want to be able to use comparative data - not essential, just needs to be thought through and a conscious decision made as to whether you want to match other studies or not. The same could also be said for some of the statistical data that is available. Quite often morbidity data is presented by age groups and if you are planning on using any of this you need to think through whether you need to use similar age groups or not.... I understand this is probably not the case for your project but you need to consciously go through the process of eliminating this factor rather than just leaving it as an oversight.
Remember - there is no right or wrong age group to pick. It's just what works best for your project!
Post a Comment