A digital psycho-educative program addressing women's fear of cancer recurrence: A qualitative thematic analysis of informants' own written texts

Aims: Going through treatment for gynecological cancer leads to significant changes in a woman’s life. In addition to physical ailments such as abrupt menopause, fatigue, pain and lymphedema, many live with fear of cancer recurrence. The aim of this study is to explore how women treated for gynecological cancer describe their fear and how a digital psychoeducative program can help them manage it. Methods: The findings are based on the notes written by 53 women in a digital psychoeducative program called Gynea. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the written texts. The COREQ checklist was followed. Results: Six themes emerged through thematic analysis. The first four themes were related to the women’s descriptions of fear: Distrust of the body , Being alert to bodily changes , Existential fear for the future and Unmanageable fear . The last two themes related to the women’s descriptions of how the Gynea program benefited them: Knowledge provides insight and understanding and Support and s trategies improve control and everyday life. The results indicate that the digital program has the potential to help women manage their fears after treatment. Activities to foster insight and understanding, factual information about which recurrence-related symptoms to watch out for, and exercises for managing overwhelming fear were found to be helpful in the rehabilitation process. Conclusions: The digital intervention holds promise in a future that is moving toward increased digital follow-up. Registered nurses have a central role in this rehabilitation process, both in terms of follow-up related to the individual patient and in the development of future digital psychoeducational programs. Giving appropriate information, knowledge, tasks and exercises, the period after cancer can be less dominated by fear and anxiety for women who have been treated for gynecological cancer. Trial Registration: The Gynea project is registered as a clinical trial, ID: NCT 04414436.