ABSTRACT
Time is a powerful actor in clinical care. For health professionals, the objective measure of time is a formidable opponent in a continuous game of Beat the Clock. For patients, the subjective experience of time poses the greater challenge. The goal of this chapter is to look at the influence of time on the meaning we derive from health and illness. To provide a foundation for our discussion, the chapter explores the concept of time from two fields: philosophy and cognitive science. There is investigation of the influence of time on the meaning patients, family members, and health professionals ascribe to personal and sociocultural illness narratives, and the changes that meaning endures over time. There are excerpts from interviews with cancer family caregivers who describe their experiences at the time of their ill family member’s diagnosis, and when caring for their ill family member after surgery and during chemotherapy. The family caregivers’ stories demonstrate the profound persuasion temporality, corporeality, and consciousness have on each other, and collectively have on one’s ability to derive meaning from illness. The chapter concludes with reading and writing activities to stimulate experiential learning and personal engagement with the influence of time on meaning.
