2012 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

The Development and Evaluations of a Support Program to promote theEmpowerment of Young women with Breast Cancer

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21792238
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Clinical nursing
Research Institution	Gunma Paz University
Principal Investigator	HAGIWARA Eiko 群馬パース大学, 保健科学部, 講師 (40438776)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2012
Keywords	若年性乳がん / エンパワーメント / サポートプログラム / がん看護学
Research Abstract	We carried out research with the aim of developing a support program to promote the empowerment of young women with breast cancer . In the first stage, we performed a concept analysis on empower ment in cancer patients. Consequently, we have defined the concept of cancer patients empowerment as “a process of gaining the ability to reframe thoughts about cancer, treatment, and life through the enhancement of active and independent behavior, acquisition of problem-solving abilities, and recognition and reinforcement of intrinsic strength, on the basis of the patient’s motivation, and realized through the interaction within the partnerships constructed between the cancer patients and people surrounding the patient”. In the second stage, we performed a qualitative analysis on the experiences of young women with breast cancer. Based on the analysis, we attempted in the third stage to construct a support program aiming to promote the empowerment of young women with breast cancer.