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Copyright of Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva is the property of Associacao Brasileira de Pos-Graduacao em Saude Coletiva and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Living with Behçet's Disease, the chronic disease causes serious negative effects on the patients' quality of life and adjustment due to its symptoms and disruptions in patients' physical activities. This study was conducted to evaluate the psychosocial adjustment level of the patients with Behçet disease. The population of this study consisted of all patients, diagnosed with Behçet's disease according to the International Working Group Diagnostic Criteria and registered at Behçet and Familial Mediterranean Fever Patients Association and who were above 18. It was aimed to reach all these patients and 64 patients with Behçet's Disease were included in this study. In this study, a questionnaire and Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale-Self Report (PAIS-SR) were utilized in order to collect data. The mean score of the patients with Behçet's Disease-related to the sub-scales of the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale-Self Report (PAIS-SR) was found to be 57.16±11.2. This score refers that the patients had a poor disease adjustment level. According to the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale-Self Report, 48.4% of the patients had poor disease adjustment levels while 39.1% of them had moderate and 12.5% of them had good disease adjustment levels. The scores related to the sub-scales are as follows: healthcare orientation X =12.86 ±3.82; psychological distress X =9.52 ± 4.72; domestic environment X =8.56 ±4.97; social environment X =8.31±5.24; vocational environment X =7.63 ± 3.41; sexual relationship X =5.92 ±4.57 and extended family relationships X=4.36 ±3.46. This study has shown that the psychosocial adjustment of the patients with Behçet's Disease to this illness is low, and there are problems related to health care orientation, psychological distress, domestic environment, and social environment. The evaluation of the conclusions of this study is of importance for providing both healthcare and psychosocial services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Canada is home to one of the highest global prevalence rates of multiple sclerosis; a disease with causes and treatments that continue to challenge physicians and patients alike. The aim of the present research was to explore patient experiences with the uncertainty that MS introduces to their lives and the role of communication with their physicians for managing uncertainty. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 16 individuals aged 26–75, 5 male and 11 female, living with all three subtypes of multiple sclerosis (February–May 2016). Interview questions related to participant's experiences at the point of diagnosis and ongoing management, and how and where they find information regarding MS. Data were analyzed using Mishel's reconceptualized theory of uncertainty in illness to allow us to identify and explain how patients construct mental schema to cope with illness and uncertainty, the significance of uncertainty in their experiences, and how they move through uncertainty to adapt to their prior level of functioning. Results: Data identify heightened uncertainty, and denial, in the initial stages of diagnosis, whereby communication with physicians did little to alleviate feelings of uncertainty. Over time, many participants came to view their physicians as navigators, helping them to manage their own online research and gathering of information beyond traditional health providers (e.g. individuals living with MS). Conclusions: Through the experience of our participants, the present research brings to light the challenges patients face in managing uncertainty and means by which healthcare providers might assist patients in navigating their MS diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Doctors' illness experiences can deeply influence not only their perceptions of illness and roles but also their medical practice. Researchers and doctors have sought to understand what happens when doctors become patients. However, currently, literature reviews focused exclusively on their illness experiences are lacking. This review examines academic literature and combines it with illness narratives (i.e., pathographies) written by doctors to elucidate the unknown about doctors' experiences and its subsequent influence on medical practice.Methods: An electronic search of the databases Academic Search Complete, Google Scholar, PubMed, ProQuest, and Ichushi-Web was conducted using relevant keywords. The literature reviewed included studies that described doctors' illness experiences or doctors' perspectives on their experiences of being patients.Results: Previous studies showed that doctors' disease prognoses are generally better than or similar to those of patients belonging to the general population. However, doctors' documented illness experiences are multi-dimensional and have several common themes. These include the concept of the 'medical self' (behaving as a doctor despite being a patient) and 'role reversal' (the doctor adjusting to the patient role). The other elements of their experiences include barriers to health care, self-treatment and self-doctoring, presenteeism, and 'wounded healers' (those who can heal others using the wisdom from their illness experiences). Most previous literature has omitted the sociocultural and historical dispositions of doctors and their biomedical perspectives of their own afflictions, even though these strongly impact their illness experiences.Conclusion: Further research that re-contextualises the meaning of illness for doctors is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although researchers have conducted extensive studies of the psychosocial impacts of prostate cancer and its treatment on men's bodies, masculinity and sexuality, little attention has been devoted to the intersection of gender and age in the healthcare experience of this illness. Based on data collected through direct observation in four French public hospitals, and 65 semi-directive interviews with prostate cancer patients, their relatives and healthcare professionals, this article aims to examine how age and gender shape care pathways. We argue that combining the concept of hegemonic masculinity with an intersectional approach may provide an adequate theoretical framework for analysing the plurality of men's prostate cancer healthcare experience. Four steps of the patient care process are successively analysed to assess how the patient experience of illness may be influenced by power relations that interact with individual characteristics: screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illness experience which was very much a private matter is now increasingly becoming a shared public experience on different public spaces including social media, and other interactive online platform such as personal blogs. Past research has shown that sharing illness experience provides emotional support which surpasses traditional face to face support. In addition, studies also suggest that online sharing of illness experience can be both therapeutic as well as beneficial for cancer patients. Thus, exploring cancer discourse on media is important in enhancing understanding of the nature and characteristics of cancer discourse as constructed on social media. This is especially important in breast cancer illness, in the Malaysian context in which survival rate remains low due to lack of awareness and reluctance to perform screening. Hence, a total of three personal blogs written by breast cancer survivors from Malaysia were examined in this study. Taking a discourse analytic perspective, this study explored the positions taken by bloggers when constructing their illness experience and how these positions are realised through the different discursive strategies and linguistic devices. The findings provide insights into how breast cancer patients position themselves when they share their illness experience online. Understanding this new form of illness sharing provides an avenue to better understand breast cancer patients' journey and their struggles, and the different roles relevant parties can play in their own health care management and information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva is the property of Associacao Brasileira de Pos-Graduacao em Saude Coletiva and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva is the property of Associacao Brasileira de Pos-Graduacao em Saude Coletiva and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Saúde e Sociedade is the property of Universidade de Sao Paulo, Faculdade de Saude Publica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Women in Cameroon are disproportionately burdened by HIV illness. Understanding the impact HIV has on women is essential for developing interventions to enhance their quality of life. Our aim was to explore and provide an in-depth understanding of the daily experiences of a sample of women living with HIV in Cameroon. Qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with women ( N = 30) from the northwest region of Cameroon who self-reported being infected with HIV. Participants shared that they had multiple challenges in their daily experiences living with HIV. The themes that emerged included: (a) receiving an HIV diagnosis is traumatic, (b) living with HIV is a constant struggle, (c) limited resources and support cause problems, and (d) stigma and powerlessness exacerbate the impact of HIV. We provide insight into the daily experiences of HIV-infected women in Cameroon. Implications for improving health care and social services to women living with HIV in Cameroon are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva is the property of Associacao Brasileira de Pos-Graduacao em Saude Coletiva and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction This article presents a holistic model for clinical palliative care and research which expands and improves previous models by fully recognizing the place of culture in illness. Methods Literature review and philosophical enquiry. Results Holistic models of patient care are essential to the practise of patient-centred care. However, these models have up to now largely neglected the role of culture and the search for meaning in the illness experience, despite evidence of disparities in the access of palliative care services by people from ethnic minority groups. A phenomenological approach to illness highlights three principles: that illness is cultural, that the search for meaning related to the finitude of human life is fundamental to the illness experience, and that illness narratives are culturally conditioned manifestations of the search for meaning in illness. A holistic model for palliative care is presented on the basis of these principles. Discussion A holistic model that recognizes the place of culture in illness has implications for clinical practice, service development, and training. We propose an agenda for research into cultural and spiritual aspects of care on the basis of the model, including the formulation and evaluation of service models that take into account cultural features of illness and meet patients' needs for support with finding meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote Aboriginal communities in Canada struggle with the impact of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Hemodialysis (HD) is the most common modality for renal replacement therapy, which often necessitates moving to urban centres. This investigation describes the illness experience of Cree from the Mushkegowuk Territory with ESKD who received HD in Kingston, Ontario and, explores the impact of relocation on their perceived quality of life (QoL). A qualitative case study approach obtained the perspectives of 4 Cree HD patients; 3 nephrologists; 3 nephrology nurses; and 3 Weeneebayko Patient Service workers. The complexity of the Cree illness experience regarding HD treatment in an urban centre included: the illness experience of the Cree HD patients consisting of an acute and a chronic phase, divergence of health beliefs which affected the clinical interactions between patients and healthcare providers, and the social and cultural isolation due to relocating for HD which reduced the perceived QoL of Cree patients. The findings are presented in models co-created with the Cree patients. Satellite renal care programs located in rural and remote Aboriginal communities may significantly improve the QoL of this population as they can adapt to their condition within a familiar cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Interface - Comunicação, Saúde, Educação is the property of Fundacao UNI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Tuberculosis is such a part of our everyday lives that I have never stopped to consider the illness experience regularly lived by our patients. As a seasoned family physician in public service, I have initiated hundreds of patients on tuberculosis treatment, simply informing them of their diagnosis and advising them to go to the clinic to obtain their medication. Even with the use of a patient-centred approach and shared decision-making, I did not give much thought to understanding the implications of how this diagnosis impacts on a patient’s life. That was until I was faced with tuberculosis myself. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This study explored the illness experiences of adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) using Video Intervention/Prevention Assessment (VIA). Five adolescents with IDDM were asked to videotape 8 hours of their lives over a 1-month period. At the conclusion of the study, the primary investigator interviewed each adolescent and their diabetes clinician. VIA visual illness narratives and follow-up interviews provided clinically important, previously unknown information about how adolescents live with diabetes, including the negative and positive influences of diabetes on the family unit and the individual, that parental involvement was associated with adolescents’ diabetes control, and that gender may be a significant mediating factor in control. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]