Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Experiences in the provision, fitting and supply of external breast prostheses: findings from a national survey

Experiences in the provision, fitting and supply of external breast prostheses: findings from a... GALLAGHER P., BUCKMASTER A., O'CARROLL S., KIERNAN G. & GERAGHTY J. (2009) European Journal of Cancer Care Experiences in the provision, fitting and supply of external breast prostheses: findings from a national survey A good‐quality external breast prosthesis and prosthesis‐fitting service is integral to recovery post‐mastectomy. However, this area of care has minimal information or research available. The aim of this study was to investigate women's experience of the provision, fitting, supply and use of breast prostheses in Ireland. Three national surveys were undertaken with women (n = 527), breast care nurses (BCNs) (n = 32) and retail prosthesis fitters (n = 12). The findings identified the importance of the prosthesis for shape, appearance to self, appearance to others, sense of well‐being, self‐confidence and femininity. Dissatisfaction with weight, comfort and movement of the prosthesis was identified. Cost and travel distance were found to influence the replacement of the prosthesis. Dissatisfaction emerged with the display and choice of products, and brochure availability at the prosthesis fitting. Women preferred to be fitted for the first silicone prosthesis by a BCN in a hospital setting whereas for the replacement prosthesis they preferred a trained fitter at a specialized prosthesis supplier. BCNs and retail fitters identified the need for service guidelines and increased availability of professional development opportunities in prosthesis‐fitting. These findings contributed to the development of standards of care for breast prosthesis‐fitting services to benefit women and to provide guidelines for those providing the service. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png European Journal of Cancer Care Wiley

Experiences in the provision, fitting and supply of external breast prostheses: findings from a national survey

Download PDF
13 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/experiences-in-the-provision-fitting-and-supply-of-external-breast-bsNBit12QF

References (11)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
ISSN
0961-5423
eISSN
1365-2354
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2354.2007.00898.x
pmid
19489989
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

GALLAGHER P., BUCKMASTER A., O'CARROLL S., KIERNAN G. & GERAGHTY J. (2009) European Journal of Cancer Care Experiences in the provision, fitting and supply of external breast prostheses: findings from a national survey A good‐quality external breast prosthesis and prosthesis‐fitting service is integral to recovery post‐mastectomy. However, this area of care has minimal information or research available. The aim of this study was to investigate women's experience of the provision, fitting, supply and use of breast prostheses in Ireland. Three national surveys were undertaken with women (n = 527), breast care nurses (BCNs) (n = 32) and retail prosthesis fitters (n = 12). The findings identified the importance of the prosthesis for shape, appearance to self, appearance to others, sense of well‐being, self‐confidence and femininity. Dissatisfaction with weight, comfort and movement of the prosthesis was identified. Cost and travel distance were found to influence the replacement of the prosthesis. Dissatisfaction emerged with the display and choice of products, and brochure availability at the prosthesis fitting. Women preferred to be fitted for the first silicone prosthesis by a BCN in a hospital setting whereas for the replacement prosthesis they preferred a trained fitter at a specialized prosthesis supplier. BCNs and retail fitters identified the need for service guidelines and increased availability of professional development opportunities in prosthesis‐fitting. These findings contributed to the development of standards of care for breast prosthesis‐fitting services to benefit women and to provide guidelines for those providing the service.

Journal

European Journal of Cancer Care – Wiley

Published: Nov 1, 2009

There are no references for this article.