Body Image Care for Cancer Patients ― Principles and Practice

This book is the first and only academic textbook of principles and practices of body image care for cancer patients, designed to target a multidisciplinary audience of healthcare care professionals engaged in the science and/or practice of psychosocial oncology internationally. Content is primarily geared toward mental health professionals or those involved in supportive care of cancer patients, but is broadly applicable to all members of the oncologic healthcare team. Best practices and models of body image care are reviewed and presented in such a manner as to be directly relevant to oncologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, rehabilitation specialists, speech and language pathologists, and other allied healthcare professionals.

Body Image Care for Cancer Patients provides a comprehensive overview of available literature on body image outcomes with cancer populations, and integrates scientific findings from the general body image literature that can be applied to the oncology setting. Readers are provided with a comprehensive theoretical foundation along with practical recommendations for assessment tools and intervention approaches that can be utilized by a range of healthcare professionals. Case examples are incorporated throughout the textbook considering different aspects of disease and treatment, and are written from the perspective of different professional disciplines. This book will be relevant for emerging as well as established healthcare professionals internationally, and can be used in training and other educational settings. This book is unique as there is no current academic text focusing on advancing the science and practice of body image care for cancer patients. Other reference texts have broadly focused on reviewing body image theory and findings in the general population or across a broad spectrum of medical illness. The time has come for a more focused textbook specific to body image and cancer that can significantly benefit the field of oncology.

Dr. Michelle Cororve Fingeret is a licensed psychologist who has been conducting multidisciplinary research and patient care addressing body image issues of cancer patients since 2004. She worked for 13 years at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in the Departments of Behavioral Science. Head and Neck Surgery, and Plastic Surgery as an Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor. She founded the Body Image Research and Therapy Program while at The University of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. She is also a Past-President of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society.

Dr. Irene Teo is a clinical psychologist whose main research focus is body image and psychological aspects of coping with cancer. She obtained her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Houston in 2012. She completed her APA-accredited internship in medical psychology at Duke University Medical Center, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in the Body Image Research and Therapy Program at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. She is currently based in Singapore and is involved in research and clinical work aimed at alleviating distress in patients and their families through the phases of cancer survivorship and palliative care.