"Colorectal cancer is the most frequent cancer in Portugal. As such, the present research project studied colostomies patients, with temporary or definitive stoma so as to examine the internalized imago of ‘healthy person’ and ‘sick person’. A descriptive and exploratory study with a qualitative methodological strategy was carried out. Our sample comprised 46 ostomy individuals of both sexes, aged between 36 and 91 years. All participants answered to a brief socio-demographic and clinic survey and to a protocol that involved producing a pictorial representation of a healthy and sick person and provide a written answer on these concepts. The results shown that patients resort to a projective identification mechanism and attest to a connection between being healthy and being young, whereas the ‘sick person’ is often represented in rigid postures. Ostomies and related prosthetics were but rarely depicted, which may point towards an unconscious and concealed denial of the body amputation experienced by the participants. Our findings can be used as indicators for post medical treatment care, and further lead to the implementation of strategies that can better prepare colorectal cancer survivors for the meaning of the changes – physic and symbolic losses – that they experience."info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
