Examining engagement in a self-in-relationship observation exercise by couples coping with breast cancer: A qualitative analysis of text-based feedback.

Young women with breast cancer (BC) and their partners generally face greater psychosocial difficulties relative to older couples, justifying the need for targeted support for this group. Toward this end, we examined how couples facing BC responded to participating in a self-in-relationship observation exercise intended to improve the relationship. Participants (N = 60) were 30 women and 30 male partners who, over the course of a week, observed and textually described/reported their "turning-towards-and-away-behaviors" deemed to contribute to relationship closeness/distance.

Treatment Satisfaction With Couplelinks Online Intervention to Promote Dyadic Coping in Young Couples Affected by Breast Cancer.

Background: This study evaluated participant satisfaction with "Couplelinks," an online psychological intervention designed for younger couples coping with breast cancer. The program included six experiential learning exercises (plus one optional module), psychoeducational information, and support from a personal mental health professional.

Objective: The primary objectives were to examine participants' perceptions of: the online intervention's structure and content; the value of including a professional facilitator; and benefits and drawbacks of the program.

'Weighing' Losses and Gains: Evaluation of the Healthy Lifestyle Modification After Breast Cancer Pilot Program.

Objectives: This pilot study sought to develop and evaluate a novel online group-based intervention (Healthy Lifestyle Modification after Breast Cancer; HLM-ABC) to help breast cancer survivors (BCSs) make healthy lifestyle changes intended to yield not only beneficial physical outcomes (i.e., weight loss, reduced body mass index) but also greater behavioral (e.

Reproductive concerns and fear of cancer recurrence: a qualitative study of women's experiences of the perinatal period after cancer.

Background: Young female cancer survivors are at a disproportionate risk of suffering significant psychological distress following treatment, particularly fears of cancer recurrence (FCR). While previous research has established the robust relationship between FCR and family matters (e.g.

Couplelinks online intervention for young couples facing breast cancer: A randomised controlled trial.

Objective: Young women with breast cancer and their partners are more distressed than couples who are affected later in life. While dyadic interventions in the context of cancer are promising, there are access barriers, particularly for younger couples. This study evaluated Couplelinks, a professionally facilitated, web-based program designed to help couples improve their conjoint coping.

Acceptability of an online relational intimacy and sexual enhancement (iRISE) intervention after breast cancer.

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate an online relational intimacy and sexual enhancement (iRISE) intervention for couples experiencing sexual difficulties following breast cancer (BC). The acceptability of iRISE was evaluated using a single-arm, qualitative design, with 14 couples completing satisfaction surveys and posttreatment interviews. The intervention was found to be acceptable, as demonstrated by high satisfaction ratings and qualitative feedback regarding iRISE and its online delivery.

Storying My Lifestyle Change: How Breast Cancer Survivors Experience and Reflect on Their Participation in a Pilot Healthy Lifestyle Intervention.

: Healthy lifestyle interventions after breast cancer treatment have generally been studied in terms of weight-loss outcomes, which leaves a gap in our understanding of the phenomenological experience of such programs. Our knowledge of or women recovering from breast cancer engage or do not engage in these programs is limited. Thus, we aimed to share subjective experiences of lifestyle change within a 12-week group intervention entitled "Healthy Lifestyle Modification After Breast Cancer" (HLM-ABC).

Online couple interventions in cancer.

Purpose Of Review: Cancer diagnosis and treatment can have long-lasting psychological and physical consequences that affect both patients and their intimate partners. Improved understanding of extant dyadic interventions in the context of cancer, and how access to these may be enhanced through web-based technologies, introduce new directions for how cancer-related psychological distress for couples may be ameliorated.

Recent Findings: Couples are negatively impacted by cancer, both individually, and as a dyad.

Lifestyle change experiences among breast cancer survivors participating in a pilot intervention: A narrative thematic analysis.

Purpose: Healthy lifestyle adoption among breast cancer (BC) survivors remains a poorly understood process. This study aimed to qualitatively examine the unique change trajectories of BC survivors who partook in a pilot version of the Healthy Lifestyle Modification After Breast Cancer (HLM-ABC) intervention.

Methods: A sample of four BC survivors were studied intensively through longitudinal interviews conducted at four time points with each participant: (1) pre-treatment, (2) mid-way treatment, (3) post-treatment, and (4) three-months following their participation in the HLM-ABC.

Professional Online Support Group Facilitators: Guarantors of Maximal Group Utility.

Synchronous online support groups (OSGs) represent a promising psychosocial resource, as they offer many of the same therapeutic factors as face-to-face groups as well as unique benefits (e.g., anonymity, convenience).

'I-We' boundary fluctuations in couple adjustment to rectal cancer and life with a permanent colostomy.

This study investigates couples' adjustment to rectal cancer and a colostomy using the 'Classification System of Couple Adjustment to Cancer', a framework delineating fluctuations in couples' sense of 'I' and 'We' in response to cancer. Nine couples affected by rectal cancer and adjusting to life with a colostomy were interviewed. A theoretical thematic analysis of the transcripts was conducted; nearly all 'I-We' shifts of the Classification System of Couple Adjustment to Cancer were observed - often in unique ways in response to rectal cancer-specific challenges - and one new shift was described.

The closer 'We' are, the stronger 'I' am: the impact of couple identity on cancer coping self-efficacy.

The present study tested the supposition that greater levels of couple identity (or we-ness) increase a woman's coping self-efficacy in relation to breast cancer, which, in turn, predicts better psychosocial adjustment. Women (N = 112) in committed relationships completed surveys assessing their levels of couple identity, cancer coping self-efficacy, and aspects of their psychosocial adjustment (specifically, depression, anxiety and functional well-being) during one of their outpatient visits to the cancer centre. As predicted, the more women identified with their relationships, the lower their levels of depression and anxiety were and the greater their functional well-being was.

A Model of Engagement Promotion in a Professionally Facilitated Online Intervention for Couples Affected by Breast Cancer.

Professionally facilitated web-based interventions for couples affected by an illness such as cancer are growing in popularity. Attrition rates for such online programs, however, are substantially higher than what is observed in face-to-face therapeutic contexts, and lower levels of participant engagement are associated with poorer outcomes. In the present investigation, a task analysis was employed to develop a model of engagement promotion in an online intervention for couples affected by breast cancer called "Couplelinks.

Weight-based bullying and compromised peer relationships in young adult bariatric patients.

The experience of weight-based bullying in young adult bariatric patients has not yet been examined. Thirteen young adults (age, 18-24) that were seeking or had undergone bariatric surgery participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews. A thematic analysis informed by grounded theory principles was conducted.

Sexual identity after breast cancer: sexuality, body image, and relationship repercussions.

Purpose Of Review: Breast cancer treatment indelibly alters a woman's reproductive and sexual functioning, body integrity, and the ways in which she self-identifies as a sexual being. Improved understanding of how treatment affects these aspects of a woman's health, identity, and relationships is necessary to ameliorate the effectiveness with which these issues are addressed by healthcare providers.

Recent Findings: Women with breast cancer experience significantly greater rates of sexual dysfunction and poorer body image than do healthy women.

The Continuous Confrontation of Caregiving as Described in Real-Time Online Group Chat.

To date, our understanding of the caregiver experience has been informed primarily by guided inquiry in the form of interviews and surveys, yielding information that is limited by the scope of researchers questions. The intent of this study was to explore the experience of caring for a loved one with advanced-stage cancer by means of participant-determined communication, using interactive, text-based transcripts from synchronous online support groups. Grounded theory analysis of the group transcripts yielded the core category continuous confrontation, characterized by major challenges (unrelenting assault, a new us, and the costs of caregiving) and minor triumphs (refuelling and living more intentionally).

Psychosocial issues experienced by young women with breast cancer: the minority group with the majority of need.

Purpose Of Review: The ways in which biological, social, and psychological factors characteristically unfold and interact for young women with breast cancer yields complex and acute challenges that are not clearly understood by all healthcare professionals. Better knowledge of the unique needs of young women with breast cancer would assist in matching younger women with the right services at the right time.

Recent Findings: Younger women (<50 years) represent a minority of breast cancer cases, yet they tend to be overrepresented with respect to demonstrating the poorest psychosocial adjustment during and following treatment.

Defining the Role of the Online Therapeutic Facilitator: Principles and Guidelines Developed for Couplelinks, an Online Support Program for Couples Affected by Breast Cancer.

Development of psychological interventions delivered via the Internet is a rapidly growing field with the potential to make vital services more accessible. However, there is a corresponding need for careful examination of factors that contribute to effectiveness of Internet-delivered interventions, especially given the observed high dropout rates relative to traditional in-person (IP) interventions. Research has found that the involvement of an online therapist in a Web-based intervention reduces treatment dropout.

Couplelinks - an online intervention for young women with breast cancer and their male partners: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Young breast cancer survivors (aged 50 years and under) and their partners are at an elevated risk for relationship distress and poor psychological adjustment relative to older age couples. Limited availability of time and resources and the distance to travel are major barriers to engaging in evidence-based psychosocial support programs. This paper describes the study protocol of a novel, manualized online intervention called Couplelinks that was developed to improve relationship adjustment and psychological wellbeing of young couples affected by breast cancer.

Talking with text: communication in therapist-led, live chat cancer support groups.

CancerChatCanada is a pan-Canadian initiative with a mandate to make professionally led cancer support groups available to more people in Canada. Although online support groups are becoming increasingly popular, little is known about therapist-led, synchronous groups using live chat. The purpose of this study was to generate a rich descriptive account of communication experiences in CancerChatCanada groups and to gain an understanding of processes associated with previously-reported benefits.

The impact of a breast cancer diagnosis in young women on their relationship with their mothers.

Background: For young women with breast cancer mothers might either be a source of support or of increased stress, depending on the premorbid relationship and on the psychological effect of the daughter's diagnosis on her mother.

Objectives: To examine the effects of a breast cancer diagnosis on young women's relationships with their mothers and the possible support needs of these mothers from the daughters' perspective.

Patients And Methods: We developed and pre-tested a self-administered questionnaire on 10 survivors of breast cancer diagnosed ≤ age 40.

Wearing my heart on my chest: dating, new relationships, and the reconfiguration of self-esteem after breast cancer.

Objective: This study investigated women's experiences of establishing an intimate relationship with a new partner after breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Methods: Fifteen breast cancer survivors, who were either actively dating or in a new intimate relationship that began post-diagnosis, participated in semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts were analyzed using the grounded theory method.

Toward clinical care guidelines for supporting rehabilitative vaginal dilator use with women recovering from cervical cancer.

Purpose: Building upon the findings of a recent qualitative investigation of women's experiences with rehabilitative vaginal dilator use, the primary goal of this article is to outline a set of preliminary clinical care recommendations that health care professionals may draw upon in addressing women's unique experiences with vaginal dilator use including their multifaceted struggles with the procedure, possibly enhancing adherence to this practice.

Methods: Ten women participated in in-depth interviews regarding their experiences with using the dilator as prescribed by their health care providers. Following the analysis of these interviews, members of the interdisciplinary research team met to review and discuss the development of clinical care recommendations stemming from these findings.

Resistance, agency, and liminality in women's accounts of symptom appraisal and help-seeking upon discovery of a breast irregularity.

In the breast cancer literature, "delayed presentation" is defined as a period of 3 months or more between the self-detection of a new breast symptom and the decision to seek help for it. Delay studies have overlooked the relevance of dominant medical discourses such as those concerning "proper" health. In this paper we use a critical discursive method to analyze interviews with 14 women about their symptom appraisal process to demonstrate how many inhabited a liminal space comprised of both "knowing and not knowing" about the symptom, and "acting and not acting" on it (interviews took place from January 2006 to April 2007).

Travelling on parallel tracks: patient and physician perspectives on why women delay seeking care for breast cancer symptoms.

In the breast cancer literature, "delayed presentation" is defined as a delay of > 3 months from the self-detection of a new breast cancer symptom until presentation to a health care provider. It has been established that early detection of breast cancer is associated with better health outcomes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore reasons why women delay seeking care for their breast cancer symptoms by asking both women and family physicians for their perspectives.