Experience With A Support Group Intervention Offered to Breast Cancer Women

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in Turkey and other countries. It is not sufficient for women with breast cancer to receive medical treatment protocols (i.e. surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy) to overcome their disease. Breast cancer has biopsychosocial effects on the patients. Provision and maintenance of biopsychosocial wellbeing of the patients during and after the medical treatment process should be one of the primary treatment criteria. It is important for women with breast cancer to develop new strategies to adapt to the disease and treatment processes and to cope with their disease. Support groups and education are quite frequently utilized to achieve this adaptation and coping. Support group interventions allow the women to discuss, receive education and share their experiences. These opportunities guide the patients about how to manage their disease and help them fulfill their social support needs. Support groups are very important to promote physical and psychological health, expand social network and increase social support for breast cancer women. The aim of this review is to reveal experiences in the preparatory and implementation stages of a support group intervention designed for women diagnosed with breast cancer in the framework of a PhD dissertation.

Keywords: Experience; breast cancer; education; support group intervention.