A Journey Mapping Study on the Full-Course Management of Elderly Patients Undergoing Radical Esophagectomy for Esophageal Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: By mapping the full-course management journey of elderly patients undergoing radical esophagectomy for esophageal cancer, this study systematically identifies core needs, pain points, and shortcomings in health education across different disease stages, providing empirical evidence for optimizing full-cycle care strategies for elderly patients undergoing radical esophagectomy. METHODS: A purposive sampling method was used to conduct semi-structured interviews with 15 elderly patients who underwent radical esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. Data were collected on their physical and psychological experiences and service needs during the disease diagnosis, hospitalization, and home rehabilitation stages. Colaizzi's seven-step method was applied for thematic extraction and coding, and a full-course management journey map was developed based on the disease timeline. RESULTS: The constructed journey map, structured along the three-stage disease timeline, covers four dimensions: tasks, core pain points, emotional experiences, and needs. A total of 25 themes were extracted, clarifying the core demands of elderly patients undergoing radical esophagectomy in areas such as information disclosure, personalized care, age-appropriate support, and psychosocial adaptation, as well as existing service gaps. CONCLUSION: The full-course management needs of elderly patients undergoing radical esophagectomy are characterized by stage-specific and personalized features. Issues such as inadequate age-appropriate and personalized health education persist. Intervention targets identified through the journey map, such as establishing multidisciplinary teams and continuous out-of-hospital guidance platforms, can be used to construct a full-cycle, precise care system, thereby improving the postoperative quality of life for elderly patients with esophageal cancer.