title: Life with an indwelling urinary catheter: the dialectic of stigma and acceptance.
abstract: The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenology was to describe and interpret the lived experience of long-term users of urinary catheters. Living with a urinary catheter involved a dialectical swing between acknowledgment that the catheter was "a part of me" and feelings of alienation and vulnerability when it was experienced as a stigma. Themes include Adjusting to embodied changes by perceiving the catheter as a "part of me," Shame and responding to shame by normalizing, and Embarrassment and coping with embarrassment by humor. Providers can minimize stigma related to the visibility of the catheter by coaching patients in strategies to manage going out of the home with a minimum of urine accidents or by helping develop ways to conceal the urine bag.
authors: University of Massachusetts Amherst, School of Nursing, USA.
authors: Mary H
authors: MH
authors: Wilde
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012752:Shame; D013240:Stereotyping; D014546:Urinary Catheterization / Q000523:psychology*