| Summary: | The overall aims of this thesis are to describe women’s experiences of breast cancer from a gender perspective, describe women’s experiences of an art therapy intervention and the effects of an art therapy intervention on self-rated coping resources and quality of life. The thesis presents results from a study with 42 women with primary breast cancer without distance metastasis who participated in a randomized intervention study with art therapy carried out between 2001 and 2004. All women were recruited as they were referred to the Department of Oncology at Umeå University Hospital in northern Sweden for postoperative radiotherapy. They were randomized to an intervention group (n = 20) with individual art therapy for 1 hour/week during postoperative radiotherapy, or to a control group (n = 22). The women were between 37–69 years old and had a range of educational and socioeconomic backgrounds. All 42 women completed questionnaires in connection with three interview occasions during six months: at baseline (start of radiotherapy), two and six months later. The questionnaires assessed coping resources, quality of life, symptoms, and self-image. In addition, all women were interviewed about their experiences, and were asked to write a weekly diary about their experiences of breast cancer during the six months of participation. All women signed a written consent form in which they were assured voluntariness and that ending their participation would not affect the care or medical treatment in any way. The study protocol was approved by the Umeå University Ethical Committee at the Medical Faculty (archive number 99-386). In this thesis, part of results from the study is reported. The results presented in the first study show an overall increase in coping resources as measured by the Coping Resources Inventory (CRI) among women with breast cancer after taking part in the art therapy intervention. Significant differences were seen between the study group and the control group in the total score on the second occasion ...
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