engleski

STOMA-CLUB FOR A BETTER LIFE QUALITY OF PATIENTS OPERATED FOR STOMACH CANCER

Background: patients operated for stomach cancer are organized in the Stoma club. Their expert leadership is provided by a visiting nurse who has been additionally trained to work with groups of patients. Their meetings are held twice a month. They exchange personal experiences, learn about new expert findings and learn how to achieve a better life quality with a stoma. Methods: we examined certain life quality characteristics of patients with a stoma. Test group consisted of 114 patients, all members of the Stoma club, and the control group consisted of 118 patients not involved in any organized groups. The tested parameters were: satisfaction with personal hygiene, opportunities for a social life, functioning within the family, sport and recreation. All the examinees rated the parameters on a 1 – 10 scale. Results: average ratings, in the form of answers to the questionnaire, indicate significant differences in most of the test categories. The ratio between the ratings of the examinees/control group is the following: 1. Satisfaction with personal hygiene – 8.4/5.2 ; 2. Opportunities for a social life – 7.6/3.8 ; 3. Functioning within the family – 7.98/7.16 ; 4. Sport and recreation – 5.81/2.32. Conclusion: patients operated for stomach cancer organized in the Stoma club show significantly better results in their own perception of important life quality parameters. Basic problems of patients with a stoma are more easily dealt with by the patients in groups. Group work provides opportunities for exchanging experiences and provides the patients with new knowledge which helps them deal more easily with their situation and everyday life after undergoing an operation and getting a stoma.

STOMA CLUB; LIFE QUALITY; STOMACH CANCER

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