Facilitating Factors and Barriers to Coping with Body Image Altered in Women with Breast Cancer

Background: Coping with body image alteration is one of the most challenging breast cancer treatments. Identifying the facilitators and barriers is essential for integrative care planning to improve coping with body image in women with breast cancer. Objectives: This study aimed to explore facilitating factors and barriers to coping with body image altered in women with breast cancer. Methods: This study was done with a qualitative approach from March 2016 to October 2017. Participants (36 women with breast cancer) were selected using purposeful sampling and maximum variation from healthcare centers in Alborz province, Iran. The data collection method was a semi-structured interview analyzed by the conventional content-analysis approach defined by Graneheim and Lundman. Results: The current study found that the facilitators in coping with body image altered in women with breast cancer were "supportive resources" extracted from the four subcategories of "receive/understand spouse support," "perceived support by the family," "support by peers in real life or online" and "support by non-governmental organizations. "The barriers to coping with body image altered were "unsympathetic interactions" and "failure of the health system to provide services." Conclusions: According to the findings of the present study, supportive guidelines and planning context-based integrated care are needed to improve facilitators and remove barriers, which allow people to cope better with body image altered.