Beauty therapy as an emotional labor to support psychosocial recovery from oncological care: The lived experience of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy

Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) patients are faced with hair loss, weakening and color change of nails, skin dryness, and scars during their oncological care trajectory. Despite advances in therapies and the many implications of chemotherapy, appearance-related side effects remain difficult to resolve and are among the main reasons for psychosocial impairment. Treatment-induced changes have been linked to a decrease in overall quality of life and relational and sexual difficulties that negatively affect adherence to therapies, pointing toward the need for dedicated attention and adequate interventions. In the framework of clinical management of BC disease, beauty therapy represents a low-cost and easy-to-implement intervention. Recent studies have highlighted its beneficial effect on the reduction of cancer-related fatigue and a range of other psychological outcomes, including body dissatisfaction. However, the literature is lacking and further research is needed. The aim of the present study is to understand the lived experience and emotional feelings of BC patients in chemotherapy at the end of a brief beauty therapy intervention of two sessions with certified beauticians. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted following the principles of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, an inductive idiographic approach characterized by an in-depth analysis of how people experience life events. Ten BC women in chemotherapy were purposefully recruited at a public hospital in northern Italy, where the beauty therapy was implemented. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview with open-ended questions administered individually at the end of the second session of beauty therapy in a quiet room at the hospital. The topic areas were: experience with BC; emotions related to beauty therapy; challenges, obstacles, and resources. A thematic analysis was performed on verbatim transcriptions. The Ethics Commission of the involved institution approved the study. Results: Findings support the proposal of beauty therapy for BC patients undergoing chemotherapy and will be discussed in the congress context. Discussion: Adopting a relational perspective, beauty therapy as an emotional labor may be useful to improve patients’ psychosocial health and the way they feel with others, even if they do not declare a specific interest in their outward appearance.