The influence of family and carers | Family and carers encouraged older patients to seek help | A patient who was an ex-smoker in the 75-to 79-years age group and who had a persistent cough stated: ‘My wife persuaded me to go to the doctor about it. I wasn’t too worried about it.’ 77 A patient in the 65-to 69-years age group with symptoms suggested of colorectal cancer reported that her daughter was ‘on the bossy side’ and had said to her ‘don’t leave it mam, go.’79 |
Competing priorities | Older adults reported delaying help-seeking as a result of competing priorities such as caregiving roles, or other life events | An older adult reported finding a breast lump but delayed seeking help because of her husband. She stated: ‘… my husband went into hospital for a hip operation. I thought I’dwait until he came home.’ 101 A 69-year-old male with symptoms of lung cancer was due to go on holiday and as a result did not report his symptoms so as to not ‘spoil the vacation’.75 |
Fear | Older adults reported that fear and embarrassment resulted in a delay in help-seeking for cancer symptoms | A 71-year-old patient described deferring help-seeking because of ‘fear’: ‘I suppose deep down I didn’t want to know anything else, you know, we’re back to this thing that you know I think we are frightened, we do get frightened occasionally that … there is something more serious and so if you can sort of, pretend that it’s just a bad back, you’re quite happy to just accept that.’ 90 A patient in the 65-to 69-year age group reported the embarrassment of an intimate examination: ‘it was just the embarrassment of knowing that I might have to have somebody’s finger pushed up your bum for an examination … that was probably the thing that put me off going more than anything in the first instance was the embarrassment of that sort of thing.’ 79 |
The perceived role of the doctor in help-seeking | Older adults perceived ‘the doctor’ in a way that delayed help-seeking | An older patient reported: ‘I’m not someone who goes to the doctor. I never used to trouble. If I had a cold I’d see to it myself. I didn’t like the idea of going to be honest and I didn’t want to go. When I did go she said “Oh you’ve not been here for so many years”!’ 8 An older adult reported being embarrassed by seeing younger doctors: ‘I was beginning to come to my senses and thought I’d better go the doctors, but I’m an embarrassed person, you know, showing yourself like that … he’s a young, good-looking doctor.’ 101 |
Comorbidities | As a result of comorbidities, patients expect new symptoms and do not seek help | A 67-year-old woman with unexplained weight loss also had comorbidities that resulted in frequent ‘aches and pains’. As a result she reported only attending the doctor with serious symptoms: ‘I have the arthritis, and I have so many aches here, there, and everywhere. And the GP, there’s nothing he can do. I am already taking medications for that through the hospital, you know. So I don’t bother the GP with all my symptoms every time, just what I think is pertinent.’ 100 |
Self-management | Older adults described a preference for ‘watchful waiting’ or self-management that delayed help-seeking | A man in the 75-to 79-years age group described trying medication they could buy before seeking help: ‘You do the usual, you take your Lemsip’s and your Beechams Powders and when it doesn’t clear up after a week you think well you need some antibiotics or something slightly stronger. So that was when I went to the doctors.’ 77 A 71-year-old man with cancer symptoms stated: ‘I believed that this sickness was a sign for me to get right with God. I put off my baptism for a long time now and I realized that was what I needed to do. So I went and get baptised.’ 93 |