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No description available.

The purpose of this study was to examine how chronic renal failure or cancer patients felt about their bodies during treatment. The sample was comprised of 22 subjects; 10 hemodialysis, six continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), and six chemotherapy patients. The settings included an outpatient dialysis center and an inpatient/outpatient chemotherapy treatment center. Two instruments, the Body Attitude Scale and the Body Cathexis Scale, were used to describe the patients' feelings about their bodies. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. A significant difference on the Body Cathexis Scale among the subjects indicated that the chemotherapy patients had the most positive body attitude. The implications of the study for nursing are related to how nurses can provide anticipatory guidance to their clients. Both cancer and renal failure treatment require significant adaptation by the client. Therefore, appropriate nursing interventions must be instituted.

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model which predicted subjective well-being in patients who had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma. The theoretical model was developed from empirical findings based on a review of the literature in which health locus of control, social support and self-esteem were identified as significant predictors of well-being. The specific aim of this study was to examine the strength of the predicted relationships between selected psychosocial variables and subjective well-being. The study utilized a nonexperimental correlational design with a causal modeling approach. The convenience sample was composed of 75 individuals (x age = 52.5) who had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma. Subjects completed four instruments which measured the theoretical concepts under study. Two additional instruments were administered which indexed the variables of search for meaning and concern of recurrence. Descriptive statistics were used in examining the demographic and situational characteristics of the sample. Multiple regression techniques were utilized to empirically test the predicted theoretical relationships and to estimate predictive validity for the theoretical concepts. Graphic residual analysis was performed to assess for violations in the statistical and causal model assumptions. Study findings revealed that social support had a direct positive impact on self-esteem (B =.27, R² =.06) and that self-esteem had a direct positive impact on well-being (B =.49, R² =.37). The two demographic variables of employment and income were found to have a direct positive impact on well-being (B =.22 and B =.26, respectively), and resulted in a 10% increase in the total explained variance in well-being. The theoretical model, which was generated to predict subjective well-being in malignant melanoma patients, explained 47% of the total variance in well-being. Research into the variables which influence patient well-being during the cancer experience is vital if nursing is to implement therapeutic interventions which will promote an improved life quality. By intervening with nursing actions that focus on a positive self-esteem, a greater sense of well-being could be attained by individuals diagnosed with cancer.

An ethnographic study was utilized to identify coping strategies of women with breast cancer. Five women were interviewed; four were interviewed on three separate occasions, and one was interviewed twice. The data were analyzed for specific coping strategies taken by the women to deal with the stresses of breast cancer. These strategies were compared and organized into categories of coping strategies: Actions Taken, Emotional Support, Positive Outcomes, Getting Control, and Keeping a Positive Attitude. These five categories were integrated as new coping incidents appeared in the data. The original five categories were merged into three categories: Getting Control, Compensating, and Emotional Support. From these three categories the theory was written: Women with breast cancer will obtain support, get control over what they can control, and compensate for what they cannot control.

This Heideggerian phenomenological hermeneutic study explores the lived experience of those coming to terms with the diagnosis of a life-threatening form of cancer. It offers an interpretation of the narratives of eight adult New Zealanders, three men and five women, aged between 25 and 60 years of age who had been recently diagnosed. The study, based upon van Manen's (1990) six-step method, uncovers the experience of the person facing up to being told they have a life-threatening form of cancer within New Zealand society. It is informed by the writing of Heidegger. The study explores the meaning of cancer to the person involved and how this meaning affects them and their world. The study explores the changes within the person and how this change in the person subsequently changes the understanding they have of themselves and the world. The narratives of participants reveal a journey that is undertaken, a journey they thought they would never undertake and were not prepared to take. The cancer journey begins suddenly, is frightening in its intensity, towards a perceived destination of probable death. The real journey for many takes an unforeseen detour along the way, a detour of hope and eventual enlightenment. The final journey for all human beings will always end in death. The realisation that all human journeys must and do end in death and learning to live with the reality of this one fact in life is the major lesson learnt by those who experience the cancer journey. The journey is made more difficult and lonely by a society that wishes to fool itself that this journey does not happen or wishes to believe that one day this journey may be totally avoided. Society, and the people that make up society, need to face the reality of the cancer journey for many of its members in order to better prepare the person for the journey and to support the person while on this journey.

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This study explores the facilitation of preparation for breast cancer surgery. The aim of the study was to develop a reasonably comprehensive scheme of categories that would describe, from the perspective of women with breast cancer, what facilitates or hinders positive psychological preparation for breast cancer surgery and, therefore, identify and conceptually organize a broad array of these experiences. The research method involved interviews with 30 women who underwent an operation for breast cancer 6-12 months prior to their interviews. The Critical Incident Technique was used to collect and analyze the data. The women were interviewed and asked to recall incidents that were helpful or hindering in their preparation for a breast cancer surgery. A total of 362 incidents from 30 participants were collected, analyzed, and placed into categories. These incidents were organized into twenty-three categories: Receiving Educational Materials and/or Information; Obtaining an Explanation of Medical Procedures or Problems; Discussing Problems with Loved One; Getting Support and Encouragement from Others; Being Accompanied to a Medical Appointment; Helping Others; Engaging Oneself in Physical and Creative Activities; Developing Helpful Habits; Taking Action on Realizing Own Mortality; Experiencing Physical Closeness; Experiencing Deep Emotional Closeness; Realizing Shift in Relationship with Loved Ones; Healing Through Spiritual Experience and Visualization; Changing Perspective Through Comparison; Using Inspiring, Comforting Material; Getting Alternative Treatment; Establishing Professional Communication; Waiting for Medical Results; Sharing Experiences in Support Groups and Counseling; Perceiving Professional Manners; Experiencing Positive Medical Settings; Getting a Recommendation/Approval of Medical Personnel, Questioning Competence of Medical Care or Personnel. The data also included information about participants' decision-making process regarding the type of operation for breast cancer and some observations on them were drawn. Several procedures were used to examine validity, soundness and trustworthiness of the categories and subcategories. Three narrative accounts were analyzed in an effort to provide meaning and action to these categories. The findings of this study may serve as a basis for better understanding of the process of preparation for breast cancer surgery. Through further examination of the categories and narratives some suggestions and recommendation for research and practice were made.

Coming to terms with breast loss and its effect on body image, femininity and self-esteem are major issues confronting women who have lost a breast to cancer. Furthermore, messages from the media, cosmetic industry and health care profession perpetuate the 'beauty myth' affecting the self-esteem of breast cancer patients. This emphasis on the aesthetic often takes precedence the grief associated with losing a body part that for many women is strongly linked to their self-concept. Based on interviews with nine breast cancer survivors in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Montreal, Quebec, three issues will be addressed: first how the cultural influences that support and perpetuate the 'beauty myth' affect breast cancer survivors; how, as a result of this issue, the grieving process is hindered and third, the experiences of women treated for breast cancer within the medical system. Implications for social work will also be discussed.