Resilience in Older Adults Diagnosed With Cancer and Receiving Chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND

Resilience is the capacity for physical and emotional recovery from stressful events like cancer diagnosis and treatment.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to review existing literature to understand and illustrate ways to assess and manage resilience when providing holistic care to older adults with cancer.

METHODS

A review of the literature was conducted with a focus on assessment, management, and preservation of resilience in older adults with cancer.

FINDINGS

Interventions to support resilience include managing problems that occur in the areas of nutrition, exercise, social support, cognition, functional status, and emotion. Cell cycle arrest using pharmacologic agents may provide a novel proactive approach to protect resilience from deteriorating during chemotherapy to treat cancer. The oncology nurse can assess and manage resilience. which can lead to better treatment outcomes.