Loss, adaptation and new directions: The impact of arm morbidity on leisure activities following breast cancer.

The impact of arm morbidity on leisure and quality of life is an understudied area in cancer survivorship. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively describe the impact of breast cancer-related arm morbidity on leisure participation in Canadian women. A grounded theory approach was used to generate thematic categories and a model. Drawing on participants from a larger cohort study (n = 740), 40 women with arm morbidity symptoms were purposively sampled and interviewed. Three themes emerged: a sense of loss, adapting participation, and new directions. Women with arm morbidity may experience an abrupt loss of previously enjoyed leisure activities and engage in a process of adapting to discover new meanings and directions. Comprehensive, person-centred cancer survivorship programs may assist with adaptation to arm morbidity.

Beyond the body: insights from an Iyengar yoga program for women with disability after breast cancer.

Lymphedema, pain, and range of motion restrictions after breast cancer remain underexplored, and few interventions have been developed for these women. Together with a yoga instructor, our interdisciplinary research team developed a yoga program for women with lymphedema after breast cancer (n = 13). Qualitative interviews and participants' journals show that there were a number of benefits to the yoga program. Themes outlining these are (1) understanding arm morbidity; (2) becoming aware of posture; and (3) countering fatigue. More surprisingly, perhaps, the participants also described the ways in which yoga furthered their understandings of loss associated with disability, the fourth theme, and showed that yoga enhanced their experiences of embodiment, the final theme. Finally, we assert that our research demonstrates the potential for qualitative research connected to the evaluation of interventions and that it demonstrates the blurring of traditional boundaries between interventions and data collection.

Discussing mentorship: An ongoing study for the development of a mentorship program in Saskatchewan.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the essential components of a mentorship program as the first step in the ongoing development of a mentorship program for primary care physicians. DESIGN: Mixed-methods study. SETTING: Saskatchewan. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-nine of 170 physicians responded positively to a letter of invitation. Of these, 25 physicians were purposively sampled based on location, sex, and experience. Fourteen participants practised in urban areas and 11 in rural settings; 11 were men and 14 were women; and 10 were junior physicians and 15 were senior. Junior physicians were defined as those who had graduated from medical school after 1995, and senior physicians were those who had graduated before 1980. METHODS: This study employed qualitative, in-depth, semistructured interviews. Interview questions, based on an environmental scan, were developed then pilot-tested with a family physician. Interviews lasted approximately 60 minutes and were audiotaped. Digital audio files were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. MAIN FINDINGS: Family physicians described positive and negative aspects of mentoring, or having a lack of experience with mentoring. They also outlined key components of a potential mentorship program: matching mentees with mentors; integrating formal and informal mentorship; and the evaluation process of the mentorship relationship and program. CONCLUSION: Based on the feedback from family physicians, mentorship is viewed as an important and meaningful program of action that regional health stakeholders and medical educators in Saskatchewan could implement. A pilot test of a mentorship program model will be the culmination of this study. Further research will be undertaken to evaluate the model once it is implemented. This will have important implications for establishing a national mentorship program for family physicians across the country.