From sense making to decision making when living with cancer

Abstract

The diagnosis of a catastrophic illness, such as cancer, brings with it a whirlwind of decisions to be made. As healthcare systems rely increasingly on shared decision making (SDM), understanding how patients make sense of health-related information and equip themselves to participate as equal partners in health-related decision making is essential. Coordinated management of meaning’s (CMM) LUUUTT (lived, unknown, untold, unheard, told stories, telling stories) model provides a useful conceptual and methodological framework for better understanding how stories are woven together to create meaning and influence decision making. This Research Note illustrates the potential of applying the LUUUTT model to autoethnographic vignettes and personal health narratives to reach a deeper understanding of the sense-making and decision-making processes related to living with cancer.