A multifaceted rehabilitation program for women with cancer.
A multifaceted rehabilitation program for women diagnosed with cancer includes a personal fitness plan, aerobic exercise classes, journaling, and a six-day environmental wilderness experience. The program's purpose is for participants to learn how to cope with uncertainties in life and to promote a wellness concept for living with cancer. This is achieved through successfully meeting the challenges of the program. A descriptive study, using journal entries of the pilot group's 12 women with breast cancer, provides insight into participants' views of the program. Their responses described: personal growth through succeeding at new and difficult experiences; normalization engendered by communicating with others having cancer; exhilaration at focusing on challenging events external to personal health problems; and courage that overrode their fears of facing what seemed impossible.
Johnson
J B
JB
North Memorial Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN.
Kelly
A W
AW
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002165:Camping; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008019:Life Style; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D012309:Risk-Taking