We investigated the coping strategies used in everyday life by middle-aged and older cancer survivors in Japan. Sixteen Japanese volunteers participated in one-to-one semi-structured interviews. The interviews focused on the respondents’ descriptions of how they felt and what they did after having been diagnosed with cancer. Although having been diagnosed with cancer, many survivors reported having made identifiable positive adjustments in lifestyle and ways of thinking, such as turning to family and friends for psychosocial support, as well as visiting shrines to find spiritual peace. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to social work practice.

我们调查了日本中老年癌症幸存者在日常生活中使用的应对策略。十六名日本志愿者参加了一对一的半结构化访谈。访谈的重点是受访者对他们的感受以及他们在被诊断出患有癌症后所做的事情的描述。尽管被诊断出患有癌症，但许多幸存者报告说，他们在生活方式和思维方式上做出了明显的积极调整，例如向家人和朋友寻求社会心理支持，以及参观神社以寻求精神平静。这些发现的含义与社会工作实践有关。