Breast Cancer in Young Women: Psychosocial Challenges

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Author(s)
Coyne, Elisabeth
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2005
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While breast cancer is often associated with older women, in the year 2000 25% of new breast cancer diagnoses in Australia were in women aged between 20-49 years. This identifies that age group as a significant cohort whose experiences and needs warrant close attention. There is great deal of literature exploring the psychosocial impact breast cancer has on a woman's life, including the emotional and physical effects experienced by breast cancer survivors, yet little of this relates to younger women. This paper reports the findings of a interpretive research project that explored the experiences and support needs of younger ...
View more >While breast cancer is often associated with older women, in the year 2000 25% of new breast cancer diagnoses in Australia were in women aged between 20-49 years. This identifies that age group as a significant cohort whose experiences and needs warrant close attention. There is great deal of literature exploring the psychosocial impact breast cancer has on a woman's life, including the emotional and physical effects experienced by breast cancer survivors, yet little of this relates to younger women. This paper reports the findings of a interpretive research project that explored the experiences and support needs of younger women with breast cancer, highlighting unique concerns for this age group. The Queensland women who participated in this study identified issues that do not traditionally relate to older women such as fertility, early clinically induced menopause, young family and sexuality. These women reported that they were engaged in multiple life roles, such as building and managing their careers, maintaining a close intimate relationship with their partners and raising their children. The combination of these challenges with the stress of breast cancer created difficulties for these women, yet the women reported that they felt unsupported by health professionals who appeared to be focused on older women, and whose interventions were not always relevant to their needs. Further research is required to improve the understanding of the psychosocial impact of breast cancer diagnosis on the younger women.
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View more >While breast cancer is often associated with older women, in the year 2000 25% of new breast cancer diagnoses in Australia were in women aged between 20-49 years. This identifies that age group as a significant cohort whose experiences and needs warrant close attention. There is great deal of literature exploring the psychosocial impact breast cancer has on a woman's life, including the emotional and physical effects experienced by breast cancer survivors, yet little of this relates to younger women. This paper reports the findings of a interpretive research project that explored the experiences and support needs of younger women with breast cancer, highlighting unique concerns for this age group. The Queensland women who participated in this study identified issues that do not traditionally relate to older women such as fertility, early clinically induced menopause, young family and sexuality. These women reported that they were engaged in multiple life roles, such as building and managing their careers, maintaining a close intimate relationship with their partners and raising their children. The combination of these challenges with the stress of breast cancer created difficulties for these women, yet the women reported that they felt unsupported by health professionals who appeared to be focused on older women, and whose interventions were not always relevant to their needs. Further research is required to improve the understanding of the psychosocial impact of breast cancer diagnosis on the younger women.
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Conference Title
Oncology Nurses Group 28th Annual Conference
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© The Author(s) 2005 Griffith University. This full text file is posted here with permission of the copyright owner for your personal use only. No further distributions permitted. For information about this conference please use the hypertext link.