Conceptions of quality of life, body and gender among Turkish breast cancer patients

Abstract

In accord with the increasing cancer rates, cancer became a highly visible illness, and cancer patients' associations became more active and popular in Turkey. Many of those associations emphasize the concept of ""quality of life,"" and aim at inculcating a holistic and individualistic approach on health. That concept stresses the psychological and social factors, which affect the patients' illness experience, and aims at empowering the patients by suggesting ways to improve their lives. However, the discourse on quality of life, which is shaped by the medical scientists, health care providers and cancer patients' associations, often overlooks the patients' socio-economic status and environmental factors, which affect their illness. Therefore, the concept of quality of life, which recently became popular, has different meanings for different cancer patients, depending on their demographic and socioeconomic background. For the breast cancer patients with a disadvantaged background, having cancer and a good quality of life creates an oxymoron, whereas the ones with a higher socio-economic status define having a good quality of life as an attainable goal for them. In this work, I will explore how the Turkish women with breast cancer define quality of life, and relate their conceptions of body, gender and health with that concept. My research took place in three different hospitals in Istanbul in order to canvass a broad range of cancer patients in terms of their demographic and socioeconomic status. It includes semi-structured interviews with female breast cancer patients on their illness experience and conceptions of quality of life.