Breast Cancer and Sexual Wellbeing - BCNA's new resource
I'm so pleased to let you know that BCNA has developed a new information booklet for women with breast cancer called Breast Cancer and Sexual Wellbeing.
We started to look in more detail at the impact of breast cancer on women's sexual wellbeing, after women had been contacting us, surprised and distressed at this unexpected consequence.
We wanted to better understand how many women were experiencing problems, and the type of issues they were experiencing. So we commissioned Professor Jane Ussher from the University of Western Sydney to conduct research for us.
Professor Ussher and her team did a fantastic job, with over 2,200 women (many who were from BCNA's Review and Survey Group) and more than 150 health professionals responding to the survey - an amazing number, which in itself told us that this was such an important issue!
Women talked about how their breast cancer had impacted on their sense of self and their confidence, the emotional impact on their relationship, and the challenges they faced if they were looking to start a new relationship. Women also talked about physical side effects of breast cancer such as menopause, and how this impacted on their ability to be intimate with a partner.
Health professionals told us about the difficulties they sometimes experience in knowing how to talk to women about sexual wellbeing, and the need for more information to be available.
We realised pretty quickly that what was needed was comprehensive information for both women and health professionals. So we developed the booklet.
I really hope you find it useful, respectful and relevant to your experience. This is such a personal issue, but is often so important to our wellbeing and quality of life. If you've had a chance to read our new booklet, please do let us know what you think about it.
We've been promoting the booklet far and wide, including a moving article in the Pink magazine called The Last Taboo, in which BCNA Community Liaisions Kirsty Muir, Bronwyn Wells and Suzanne Mullen share their stories. Limited numbers of the October issue of the Australian Women's Weekly carry the Pink magazine, so keep your eyes out in your local newsagent or supermarket.
You can order or download a copy of the booklet from our website here: http://www.bcna.org.au/living-breast-cancer/sexual-wellbeing
