“You Literally Have to Become the Kid Again”: Young Adults With Cancer and Institutionally (Un)Supported Disruptions

• In Event: 20820 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 20. Patient Experiences and Diagnostic Processes I

Abstract

The past three decades have seen an alarming 80% increase in young adults, between 18 and 40, diagnosed with cancer. While the survival rates for both older adult and pediatric cancers have improved in the same period, the survival rates for young adults have remained largely stagnant. Research characterizes young adults as the most underserved population by age, but until recently, their experiences were largely ignored by social and medical sciences. As young adults with cancer garner increasing attention from medical, public health, and social science researchers, sociology plays an essential role, yielding insight into how social structures, institutions, cultural expectations, and systems of inequality play out in and on the bodies of young adults. Drawing on data from in-depth interviews and participant observation, this paper examines the impact of cancer in young adulthood with emphasis on two emergent areas with potentially long-term, cascading impacts: (1) education and occupation; and (2) relationships, intimacy, and family formations. However, I find that the impacts of illness are not directly related to the young adult body, but rather the sociocultural construction of adulthood as a period of ablebodiedness and a frayed social safety net to support young adults in the case of catastrophic illness. Lacking robust savings and assets, underinsured and underemployed, and often burdened with student loan debt, even those young adults with race and class privilege had difficulty navigating the economic uncertainty and financial strain associated with the disruption of work-related activities, high healthcare costs, and future economic uncertainty. Family "filled the gaps" in social welfare programs, providing instrumental and financial support and caregiving for young adults and child dependents. Importantly, this resourcefulness, empowered by systems of domination, this reflected and reproduced inequality.

Author

• Kathryn Norton-Smith, University of Arkansas