The study explores the lived experiences, perceptions and considerations of patients who declined participation in a randomised clinical trial involving exercise rehabilitation after surgery for lung cancer. An interpretive phenomenological research approach inspired by Dahlberg et al.’s reflective life-world research was applied. Interviews were conducted with 15 patients who declined participation in the exercise rehabilitation trial. The study revealed a discrepancy between the patients’ freedom to act and make decisions, and the limitations of having to act in a certain way. The patients found themselves in a grey area between a healthy life and a good life, as influenced by societal norms and their responsibility for their own health and rehabilitation. The patients’ underlying narrative concerning values and the good life; priorities in daily life; social context and norms embedded in their self-understanding are crucial to gaining insight into when including patients in rehabilitation after lung cancer.

16 - EXPERIENCES, PERCEPTIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS OF PATIENTS AFTER LUNG CANCER SURGERY CONCERNING NON-PARTICIPATION IN A RANDOMISED CLINICAL REHABILITATION TRIAL