Paliatívna medicína a liečba bolesti 1e/2015

Self-care and self-esteem in the oncological patients

Aim: In this article, we aim to clarify the character of self-care and self-esteem in the oncological patients. We try to capture both physical as well as psychological form of self-care. Patients and methods: The sample consisted of 57 respondents, who suffer various cancer diseases (25 men and 32 women). To assess the self-care we used our own Self-care Self-regulation Questionnaire (1) and Self-esteem Scale measuring self-esteem (2). Results: The results indicated that patients suffering from cancer preferred both physical and psychological self-care. The psychological self-care dominated in the form of emotional control and personal development. The results showed, that more concentration to the psychological self-care, increases self-esteem (r = 0,340; p = 0,02). Conclusion: The research brought the evidence that focus on psychological self-care patients suffering from cancer is important. Implementation of psychological self-care can help not only for the patient’s psychological well-being, but also increase self-esteem. We believe that our results will become new look to this topic. We also believe that these results will arouse a deeper interest of this issue among the professionals.

Keywords: cancer, self-care, self-esteem, emotional control, patient.