Embracing My Stoma: Psychosocial Adjustment of Indonesian Colorectal Cancer Survivors Living With a Stoma

BACKGROUND

After surgical treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC), most survivors need to have an ostomy, which can lead to restrictions in their psychological and social functioning. How Indonesian CRC survivors adjust to living well with the stoma remains an understudied area.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of Indonesian CRC survivors living with a stoma regarding their psychosocial adjustment.

METHODS

This study adopted Heidegger's interpretive phenomenology approach. Using semistructured in-depth interviews, data were collected until saturation from 11 CRC survivors. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, with a Heideggerian stance.

RESULTS

Three themes with corresponding subthemes were identified: (1) achieving self-reconciliation (subthemes: stoma as a savior, embracing the stoma's existence, being confident as an ostomate), (2) getting tremendous social support (subthemes: getting support from partner, family and community, and peer ostomates), and (3) making practical adjustments in daily life (subthemes: adjustment in clothing, food and drink, physical activities and exercise, religious activities, and traveling). These 3 themes describe the essence of the "lived psychosocial experiences of the CRC survivors with stoma."

CONCLUSIONS

In contrast to previous study findings conducted primarily in Western countries, most of the Indonesian CRC survivors living with a stoma described positive psychosocial adjustment regarding their ostomy. In this work, social support and cultural-religious aspects made a significant contribution to this adjustment.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Healthcare professionals, especially nurses, can use this knowledge in providing psychosocial support for CRC survivors with ostomy to facilitate a smooth adaptation and adjustment journey.

Is Chronic Pain Temporal Pattern Associated with Middle-Aged and Older Adults’ Perceptions of their Futures?

A psychological consequence of chronic pain may be an inappropriately limited future time perspective (FTP) for middle-aged and older adults. FTP is defined as one’s perception of time as limited or expansive. Potentially meaningful measures, like pain temporal pattern, are often ignored in the chronic pain literature. The present study uses secondary data to assess the association between pain temporal pattern and FTP, and the moderating effect of pain duration. Among 140 individuals with chronic pain, there was no significant association between pain pattern and FTP. However, both pain-related activity interference and pain duration were associated with FTP where greater interference predicted more limited FTP (b = −0.16, p = .03) and longer pain duration contributed to more expansive FTP (b = 0.001, p = .03). The temporal pattern x pain duration interaction terms were non-significant. We discuss implications, limitations, and future directions of these findings.

"I Have Strong Hopes for the Future": Time Orientations and Resilience Among Canadian Indigenous Youth

In this article, we demonstrate how concepts of time and the future inform processes of resilience among Indigenous adolescents within an urban Canadian context. This study employed a modified grounded theory methodology by conducting 38 qualitative interviews with 28 Indigenous youth (ages 15-25) over the course of 1 year. The analysis revealed complex processes of and navigations between moments of distress and strategies for resilience. The distressing contexts in which Indigenous youth often find themselves can impact the development of their concepts of time and limit their abilities to conceptualize a future. A future time orientation (FTO) emerged as central to processes of resilience and was supported by (a) nurturing a sense of belonging, (b) developing self-mastery, and

Psychosocial adaptation: an evolutionary concept analysis exploring a common multidisciplinary language

AIMS

To provide the first known concept analysis of psychosocial adaptation, exploring its evolution from the concept adaptation. We also determine how psychosocial adaptation is conceptualized across nursing, health, sociobehavioural and education disciplines.

BACKGROUND

Psychosocial adaptation is an important conceptual term that is poorly defined in nursing and other health, sociobehavioural and education disciplines. A thorough understanding of the concept's application in nursing and across disciplines can help to clarify its meaning, facilitate a more effective common language between disciplines and inform future psychosocial adaptation research.

DESIGN

Rodger's evolutionary view guided this concept analysis.

DATA SOURCES

Peer-reviewed English and Spanish manuscripts published between 2011-2013 were retrieved from the following databases: CINAHL, Psych INFO, PubMed, Scopus and LILACS.

REVIEW METHODS

Eighty-nine articles related to psychosocial adaptation were included in the analysis. Findings identify key attributes, antecedents and consequences associated with the use of the concept. Findings were compared vis-a-vis reported characteristics of adaptation.

RESULTS

The attributes characterizing psychosocial adaptation are: change, process, continuity, interaction and influence. In psychosocial adaptation, new life conditions serve as antecedents, while consequences are good or bad outcomes. Important features of the evolution of this concept include its broad appropriation across the reviewed disciplines. The attributes of psychosocial adaptation, have some similarities to those of general adaptation. Both concepts include an aspect of change, but unlike adaptation, psychosocial adaptation has branched away from biological descriptors, such as homeostasis and tends to focus on relational characteristics, such as interaction and influences.