Prolonged Grief and Perception of Femininity in Gynecological Cancer Patients
Condition: Cervix Cancer; Uterine Cancer; Ovarian Cancer; Endometrial Cancer; Vulva Cancer; Grief; Femininity
MeSH terms: Endometrial Neoplasms; Uterine Neoplasms; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Vulvar Neoplasms
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The aim of this study is to determine the effect of the 'Feminine Identity Improvement
      Program', based on cognitive behavioral and expressive techniques applied to gynecological
      cancer patients, on prolonged grief reactions and the perception of femininity. The study
      will be conducted in a randomized controlled and qualitative type with gynecological cancer
      patients who completed their surgical treatment at least three months ago in the last year at
      Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University Hospital.
    

Detailed description: 
      The Personal Information Form and the Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale will be used as data
      collection tools in the study. The Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale-Patient Form will be
      applied to all gynecological cancer patients who meet the inclusion criteria for the study.
      When the literature was examined for the planned study, we could not come across any study
      that used the scale to be applied or a parallel form of it. Since it will be a reliable
      method to perform power analysis with the values obtained by conducting a pilot study in the
      absence of literature reference, the power analysis process will be performed by carrying out
      a pilot study with a total of 30 cases. The study will be terminated if a sample number is
      determined to be 30 or fewer as a result of the power analysis. If the sample number exceeds
      30, the number of samples will be increased as much as the difference. Accordingly, the
      patients with the highest prolonged grief reaction as much as the number of samples
      determined will be included in the study by dividing them into groups through block
      randomization. The intervention group determined by the randomization method will be given
      the 'Feminine Identity Improvement Program', based on cognitive behavioral and expressive
      techniques, which is structured to be 90-120 minutes once a week for 10 weeks. The program to
      be applied to the intervention group has been created by the researcher in line with the
      literature review and the necessary expert opinions were obtained. No intervention will be
      applied to the control group during the study. In order to determine the effect of the
      program, measurements will be carried out in both groups before the program (pre-test), at
      the end of the program (post-test-10th week), and three (3) months after the end of the
      program. In order to evaluate the perception of femininity, individual interviews will be
      conducted at the end of the program with the intervention group patients until saturation is
      reached. Since no scale evaluates the perception of femininity in the literature, the
      perceptions of femininity will be evaluated with individual interviews accompanied by the
      guide interview form prepared by the researchers in line with the literature. After the
      completion of the study, the program will be repeated with the volunteers from the control
      group.
    

Intervention name(s): Such as art therapy, play therapy, breathing techniques
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) model suggests that the individual's dysfunctional thoughts about self, the world, and/or others are based on irrational or illogical assumptions. An individual's self and his/her view of the world are central to the determination of his/her feelings and behaviors and thus can be changed through changing the individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. CBT techniques are in line with the use of expressive art techniques. The common goal in both CBT and expressive arts is to achieve behavior change in the individual. An intervention program has been prepared by the researcher in line with this literature information.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: The Prolonged Grief Disorder-Patient Form will be administered to all gynecological cancer patients who meet the inclusion criteria. The patients with the highest prolonged grief reaction as much as the number of samples determined will be included in the study by dividing them into groups through block randomization.
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care