Body consciousness of people with intestinal stomach: A phenomenological study

Rev Bras Enferm. 2018 Mar-Apr;71(2):391-397. doi: 10.1590/0034-7167-2016-0666.
[Article in English, Portuguese]

Abstract

Objective: to describe the bodily awareness of people with stomies.

Method: a descriptive study with a qualitative approach, carried out in the Ostomized Association of the State of Ceará, through semi-structured interviews with ten people with intestinal stomies, according to Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological thinking.

Results: two categories of analysis emerged: The body that I have, in which the sensations of deficiency, imperfection and bad odor add to the feeling of strangeness towards one's own body, affecting the way of being in the world of each deponent; and The body that others perceive, in which the stoma is seen as an embarrassing and complex experience, since it hampers daily activities and conviviality with other people.

Final considerations: The corporeal consciousness of Being-Stomp-in-the-world requires the movement to reconstruct the senses of the body from the body I have and from that which others perceive.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Body Image / psychology*
  • Brazil
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Qualitative Research
  • Surgical Stomas / adverse effects*