Barriers to active self‐management following treatment for head and neck cancer: Survivors' perspectives

Abstract Objective Active self‐management practices may help head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors to deal with challenges to their physical, functional, social, and psychological well‐being presented by HNC and its treatment. This study investigates the factors perceived by HNC survivors to act as barriers to their active self‐management following primary treatment. Methods In this qualitative study, 27 HNC survivors identified through 4 designated cancer centres in Ireland participated in face‐to‐face semistructured interviews. Interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed, and analysed using thematic analysis. Results Four themes (and associated subthemes) describing barriers to survivors' active self‐management were identified: emotional barriers (eg, fear of recurrence), symptom‐related barriers (eg, loss of taste), structural barriers (eg, access to appropriate health services), and self‐evaluative barriers (eg, interpersonal self‐evaluative concerns). Conclusions This is the first study to describe HNC survivors' views about barriers to their active self‐management after treatment. The findings have important implications for self‐management research and intervention development concerning HNC survivorship.