My Changed Body: Background, development and acceptability of a self-compassion based writing activity for female survivors of breast cancer

- Self-compassion interventions are a new method for reducing distress related to breast cancer treatment.
- My Changed Body is an online structured writing activity to assist breast cancer survivors.
- Breast cancer survivors and health professionals indicated a high level of user acceptability.
- Participants commented positively on the website's clear wording, appealing design and ease of navigation.
- A pilot study is now assessing the impact of the intervention on body image disturbance.

ObjectiveTo assess consumer and health professional user acceptability of a web-based self-compassion writing activity to minimize psychological distress related to the negative impact of breast cancer on body image.Methods“My Changed Body” is a web-based writing activity that combines expressive writing with a self-compassionate approach that focuses on cancer-related adverse body image alterations. Breast cancer survivors (n = 15) and health professionals (n = 20) provided feedback via a survey regarding the appearance, organization and content of the website and writing activity.ResultsBoth breast cancer survivors and health professionals rated the website highly in terms of design, layout and content. Participants commented positively on the website's clear wording, appealing design and ease of navigation. Suggestions for improving the website included simplifying the instructions for the writing activity and allowing participants' writing to be saved.ConclusionResults from both breast cancer survivors and health professionals suggest a moderate to high level of user acceptability and positive ratings for the overall impression of the website.Practice implicationsSelf-compassion based writing interventions can be translated to a web-based self-administered activity for body image difficulties after breast cancer treatment in a format that is acceptable to consumers and health professionals.