Avoiding information during serious illness: insights into the information behavior of cancer patients

Cancer patients seek information about their health and illness using many different approaches. Some prefer to seek intensively whereas other avoid seeking information. Over the course of the cancer continuum an individual may meet their needs using several different approaches. In this paper, we explore how avoidance can be an approach used as part of information seeking activities and not just as an alternative approach. Interviews with six current and former cancer patients were conducted and audio recorded for transcription. The transcriptions were coded to identify themes and concepts. We identify the different patterns of information seeking among the interviewees ranging from seeking intensively to avoiding information. Furthermore, we find that exposing yourself selectively to information as well as avoiding some information can be strategies to protect the information seeker from information the individual is not able to cope with. This study indicates that information seeking approaches are overlapping.