The purpose of the study is to explore women’s experiences following mastectomy, from a perspective of loss and grief. Eighteen women (age 26–80 years) who had undergone mastectomies were interviewed. Half of the participants choose immediate breast reconstruction. The interviews were thematically analyzed based on Denzin’s interpretive interactionism approach. The findings show that the women’s experiences can be divided into three central themes: diagnosis, mastectomy, and living without breasts. Mastectomy was perceived as a lifesaving procedure in light of their cancer diagnoses, making it difficult for women to acknowledge the loss of their breasts and to allow themselves to feel grief. They used meaning-reconstruction processes to reduce the importance that they attributed to their breasts, or placed them in a negative context in order to minimize the significance of their loss and avoid postmastectomy grief. Women who choose immediate reconstruction did so in an attempt to escape the loss, and any feelings of postmastectomy grief were reconstructed as depression. The study highlights meaning-reconstruction processes in light of social constructs, as women attempt to reconstruct their bodies and their identities. Breast loss following mastectomy is experienced as disenfranchised grief because the loss is ambiguous, especially for women who had breast reconstructions. Implications for psychosocial providers is as follows: Acknowledging loss is essential in order to experience grief and should be the focus of therapy and counseling for women coping with breast cancer.

This study aims to extend our knowledge regarding attitudes toward euthanasia. Specifically, the effect of patient’s age and illness type. 123 participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups completed the Assessing Right to Die Attitudes (ARDA) questionnaire after reading a patients age (79 vs. 29 year old) and illness type (cancer vs. depression) description. Findings revealed more positive attitudes toward euthanasia when the patient was physically ill, as opposed to mentally ill. Participants’ attitude towards euthanasia was more positive when the patient was elderly. Illness type as a function of the patient’s age did not significantly influence attitudes towards euthanasia. The results of the current study reinforce the individual influence of illness type and of patient age on attitudes toward euthanasia, and suggest additional avenues for further research regarding their combined influence.

The objective of this study was to explore stigma related to breast cancer among Druze women and men and identify factors associated with low screening rates among Druze women. A sample of 270 Druze women and men completed an online questionnaire adapted to detect breast cancer stigma and internalized breast cancer stigma. Independent samples t-test results showed higher scores for men compared to women, at a significant level, on four of the Breast Cancer Stigma scales: awkwardness, avoidance, policy opposition, and personal responsibility. Independent samples t-test results also showed higher scores for men compared to women, at a significant level, on two of the Internalized Breast Cancer Stigma scales: stereotype endorsement and discrimination experience. These results suggest a need for psychoeducation about breast cancer screening for minority groups such as the Druze, with male partners of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer being the main target recipients.

Objectives Despite documented benefits and physicians’ recommendations to participate in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs, the average dropout rate remains between 12–56%. This study’s goal was to demonstrate that using personalized interventions can significantly increase patient adherence. Method Ninety-five patients (ages 18–90) eligible for the CR program were randomly recruited and received personalized interventions using the Well-Beat system. Adherence levels were compared to those of a historical control group. The Well-Beat system provided Sheba CR Health Care Provider (HCP) guidelines for personalized patient-therapist dialogue. The system also generated ongoing personalized text messages for each patient sent twice a week and related each patient’s dynamic profile to their daily behavior, creating continuity, and reinforcing the desired behavior. Results A significant increase in patient adherence to the CR program: Three months after initiation, 76% remained active compared to the historical average of 24% in the matched control group (log-rank p-value = 0.001). Conclusions Using an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based engine that generated recommendations and messages made it possible to improve patient adherence without increasing HCP load, benefiting all. Presenting customized patient insights to the HCP and generating personalized communications along with action motivating text messages can also be useful for remote care.

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