Physical and psychological scars: The impact of breast cancer on women's body image

Lewis-Smith, Helena

Abstract

Whilst breast cancer remains the most common cancer amongst women in the United Kingdom, advances in medicine have seen survival rates improve over the years and the number of women living with the residual consequences of the disease and its treatment is growing. Women are likely to undergo a number of treatments at once, or in succession of one another, each of which brings about various changes to appearance, e.g. hair loss. These wide ranging appearance alterations can impose an adverse impact on body image, causing substantial distress for many women (Dahl et al., 2010).
This article reviews research exploring the body image of women with breast cancer, a group who experience a wide range of changes to their appearance as a side effect of treatment for the disease.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 1, 2015
• Publication Date: Mar 4, 2015
• Deposit Date: Nov 11, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 20, 2017
• Journal: Journal of Aesthetic Nursing
• Print ISSN: 2050-3717
• Publisher: MA Healthcare
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 80-83
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/joan.2015.4.2.80
• Keywords: women, breast cancer, body image, interventions, visible difference
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/837432
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.12968/joan.2015.4.2.80
• Contract Date: Jul 20, 2017