“Normally I Always Ask Briefly…”: How Patients and Healthcare Professionals in Oncology Construct Sexuality as a Delicate Topic

Abstract

Oncology healthcare professionals (HCPs) and cancer patients often have difficulties in navigating conversations about sexual changes and concerns due to cancer and its treatments. The present study draws on Discursive Psychology to analyze how the topic of sexuality is raised and managed in Dutch oncological consultations. Our corpus consists of 28 audio recordings. We analyzed the discursive practices used by cancer patients and oncology HCPs and to what effect. Patients, on the one hand, employ vagueness, pronouns, and ellipses, while HCPs attribute talk to others and use generalizations and speech perturbations. Through these practices they collectively keep the topic of sexuality at a distance, thereby constructing it as a delicate topic. Moreover, we explicate the norms related to sexual behavior that cancer patients and oncology HCPs orient to in their talk. Finally, we address ways in which oncology HCPs can open the door on discussing sexual changes with their patients.