Image corporelle et cancer: une analyse psychosociale

[From the dream body to the real body, a clinical look at body image]

As the object of care in medical treatment, the body is apprehended and invested in by patients from the point of view of the subject. The social, cultural and historical background of the subjects shapes their relationship with their body and regulates the possible impact of its transformations. These elements are important to take into account in the identification of body image disturbances and access to dedicated care. The experience of carers in dealing with these "marked" bodies must also be taken into account.

Effets revitalisants de la Danse Mouvement Thérapie dans la remission du cancer du sein

Objectif: Cette étude qualitative vise à décrire les effets revitalisants d’un protocole de Danse Mouvement Thérapie chez une patiente en rémission d’un cancer du sein, Mme Magnolia (66 ans).

Matériel et méthodes: Mme Magnolia participe à un atelier de Danse Mouvement Thérapie composé de dix moments d’expérience corporelle. Nous utilisons d’abord le logiciel T-LAB Plus 2018 (version 4.0.2.7) pour le calcul des associations de mots lemmatisés (cooccurrences) ensuite une interprétation de la narration selon l’approche de Carl Gustav Jung et de Rollo May.

Résultats: La narration de Mme Magnolia peut s’organiser à travers cinq catégories d’expériences corporelles impliquant l’activation de l’archétype duPuer Aeternus ou Enfant divin. Plus précisément, nous avons identifié : « L’effort et le courage de se jeter et s’ouvrir au monde », « Renouer avec le corps et ressentir son éveil », « La mise entre parenthèses de la maladie, générant un sentiment de liberté », « Le plaisir de danser en lien avec un sentiment d’être acceptée », « Le plaisir de danser en lien à l’évocation nostalgique d’un temps lointain ».

Conclusion: Nous pensons que « le travail psychique avec la Danse Mouvement Thérapie » peut non seulement éloigner le patient du fardeau de la maladie (symptômes, plaintes, gènes et douleurs physiques), mais aussi générer des expériences corporelles revitalisantes (sensation de liberté physique, éveil psychocorporel, sentiments d’ouverture au monde) et une narration riche d’éléments symboliques.

Measuring the impact of cancer: a comparison of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and breast cancer survivors

Introduction

Self-report instruments such as the Impact of Cancer (IOC) are designed to measure quality of life (QOL) impacts that cancer survivors attribute to their cancer experience. Generalizability of QOL findings across distinct diagnostic categories of survivors is untested. We compare measurement of the impact of cancer using the IOC instrument in breast cancer (BC) survivors (n = 1,188) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) survivors (n = 652).

Methods

A registry-based sample of NHL survivors completed the IOC questionnaire and the FACT-G, FACT-LYM, Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) SF-36, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version, Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory and MOS Social Support scales. IOC responses of the NHL survivors were subjected to de novo scaling to identify impact domains for comparison to IOC version 2 (IOCv2) domains, which were previously developed based on BC survivor responses. Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating the IOCv2 scales with the other measures. IOCv2 scores were compared between the BC and NHL survivor samples.

Results

The BC and NHL survivors exhibited similar impact domains and had factor structures that were largely congruent. The concurrent validity analysis revealed patterns of association that supported the interpretation and validity of the IOCv2 scales. Differences in IOCv2 scores between the BC and NHL groups suggested differential impacts in distinct survivor groups that could be detected using the IOCv2.

Conclusion

The results suggest that the IOCv2 measures common and important survivor concerns and support its generalizability to the broader long-term cancer survivor population.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

Instruments such as the IOCv2 can provide valid assessment of QOL impacts in long-term cancer survivors, facilitating the characterization of these impacts and development of appropriate interventions.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11764-009-0106-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.