05 The Female Perspective A Cross Sectional Study On Cancer Rehabilitation Needs Social Stigma And Quality Of Life In Women With Cancer

THE FEMALE PERSPECTIVE - A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY ON CANCER REHABILITATION NEEDS, SOCIAL STIGMA AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN WOMEN WITH CANCERJeanette Kittang1, Emma Ohlsson-Nevo21Faculty of Medicine and Health, u00d6rebro University, Department of Oncology, u00d6rebro University Hospital, u00d6rebro, Sweden.2 Faculty of Medicine and Health, u00d6rebro University, University Health Care Research Center, u00d6rebro, Sweden.BackgroundMore than 30.000 women in Sweden receive a cancer diagnosis every year and 11.000 of these women suffer from gynecological cancer or breast cancer. Early rehabilitation intervention is an effective way to support female cancer patients in improving their quality of life.Feminist theory states that society today has a male-centered definition of science because historically, knowledge has been based on the experience of privileged, white men and thereby excluding less privileged groups. MethodIn 2017, postal questionnaires were sent out to 521 women diagnosed with cancer. Main research variables were cancer rehabilitation needs based on types of cancer, age and education. Other variables were social stigma and health related quality of life.The aim of the study was to describe cancer rehabilitation needs, social stigma and quality of life in women with cancer in general and women with gynecological cancer and breast cancer in specific.ResultsThe final sample consists of 315 women, which gives a response rate of 60%. The most wanted cancer rehabilitation for the entire cohort was Information and supportive groups with people with the same diagnosis (39%), and the second most wanted was Individual weight training (33%). When the 16 listed rehabilitation needs were grouped into 10 groups, complexity showed that 30% of the women wanted no cancer rehabilitation intervention. 50% of the women wanted more than one rehabilitation intervention. 11% of the women wanted five different rehabilitation interventions. ConclusionThe result shows that there is a great need of cancer rehabilitation interventions among these women.It is notable how similar the groups are when based on type of cancer or age, this implies that a nurse needs to see the individual needs in every patient and not let the primary understanding be based on patient characteristics. For correspondence: [email protected].