The role of art-making in identity maintenance: case studies of people living with cancer.
The aim of this qualitative research was to understand why some people with cancer take up art as a leisure activity, and how visual art-making in daily life might support identity maintenance/reconstruction. The study forms part of a larger project with people who view art-making as a resource for living with chronic illness. In order to provide a detailed, holistic analysis, the paper focuses on the accounts and artwork of three participants, two women (aged 47 and 59 years) each with breast cancer, and a man (aged 51 years) with stomach and lung cancer. The participants turned to art after a process of reflection but did not necessarily reject their pre-illness lifestyles or selves. Rather, art-making afforded many opportunities to retain familiar personal and social identities, and to resist being dominated by labels related to their illness. A practical implication is that people coping with cancer may need not only cognitive and emotional support, but opportunities to find meaningful activities. Such activities can be understood to have a powerful role in maintaining a familiar, positive identity in cancer, and providing a resource for coping.
Reynolds
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F
School of Health Sciences and Social Care, Brunel University, Middlesex, UK. frances.reynolds@brunel.ac.uk
Prior
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S
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001155:Art Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D001364:Awareness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy