Limitations
The participant group in this study were all middle-class people of
European descent and had experienced a diverse range of cancers,
treatment and prognoses. Therefore, the findings may not be directly
transferable to other ethnic groups. Having said that, other research we
have done with people of diverse ethnicities has identified the idea of
‘connectedness’ as having a central importance in shaping meaning in
these cultures and their communities (Ahuriri-Driscoll et al .,
2014; Lee & Reid 2012). Although these findings are likely to be
applicable across cultures (Yoon Lee & Goh, 2008; Yoon & Lee, 2010;
Yoon, Jung, Lee, & Felix-Mora, 2012; Kurtz, 2013) further evaluation is
necessary.