BEAUTY WORKSHOP AS FUNCTIONAL COPING STRATEGIES DURING THE REHABILITATION INTERVENTION

Abstract

Background Chemotherapy represents a pivotal moment in the clinical history of the cancer patient, not only for the related adverse events but also for the image changes, often perceived negatively and which can have psychological and social consequences. Facial image, a reflection of the body in its entirety, of the personality and of the psycho-emotional balance, severely tested by cancer, is not something ephemeral but fundamental. Since 2013, the UOC of Medical Oncology of the ASP of Siracusa, has made available to female patients a project that promotes a process of adaptation, helping them to cope with the physical but also relational, psychological and social changes related to the disease, encouraging the adoption of functional coping strategies. Material and methods Since 2013, 213 female patients, ranging in age from 20 to 80 years, with various oncological diseases and at different stages of their treatment journey, in good clinical and psychological condition on medical-oncological evaluation, have taken part in the project. The project consists of a single workshop for each patient, lasting two and a half hours, in a small group of 4-6 participants, with the beauty counsellor and the psycho-oncologist, two subsequent individual interviews with the psycho-oncologist, cadenced in about two months. This is an observational study of the data collected. Results Patients show that they feel valued (24%) and renewed (21%), show overall satisfaction (44%) with their experience, reporting that they understood the value of the workshop in enhancing their image (97%), whereas before taking part, the subjective perception of well-being was largely low (32% little and 52% not at all). Conclusions Well-being and self-esteem are important drivers in the emotional and psychological management of cancer patients' disease states. They fuel and converge in resilience, understood as the ability not to let adversity block you, but to go through the pain, making it worthwhile. For this reason, it becomes essential to use all possible tools to facilitate its achievement.

Keywords

• body image
• alopecia
• skin toxicities
• psychosocial oncology
• quali- ty of life