Investigating the therapeutic potential of a heritage-object focused intervention: a qualitative study

• Published in: Journal of health psychology Vol. 17; no. 6; pp. 809 - 820
• Main Authors: Lanceley, Anne, Noble, Guy, Johnson, Michelle, Balogun, Nyala, Chatterjee, Helen, Menon, Usha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.09.2012; Sage Publications
• Subjects: Adult; Attitude to Health; Biological and medical sciences; Cancer; Clinical trials; Cultural heritage; Culture; Emotions; Female; Genital Neoplasms, Female - psychology; Humans; Institution therapy. Inpatient treatment; Longitudinal studies; Medical sciences; Nurse specialists; Nurses; Object Attachment; Observation; Patients; Psychological assessment; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychotherapy - methods; Qualitative analysis; Treatments; Women; Women's health; distress; arts-focused health research; emotions; women’s health; Cancer; Human; Affect affectivity; Art; Hospital environment; Emotion emotionality; Malignant tumor; Female genital diseases; Case study; Treatment; Psychological distress; Young adult; women's health; Qualitative analysis; Object; Woman; Elderly; Therapeutic role
• ISSN: 1359-1053; 1461-7277
• DOI: 10.1177/1359105311426625

This study explores the therapeutic potential of heritage-object handling in nurse-patient encounters with women facing cancer. Ten women participated in an object-focused conversation with a nurse specialist. Sessions were audio-tape recorded and transcribed. Kleinian theory framed the analysis to reveal the individual ways women ‘used’ the object in the session. Professionally observed heritage-object handling provides an aid to discussion with patients and has potential as an assessment platform for therapeutic work or as an intervention approach in its own right. Further longitudinal controlled trials are needed to evaluate such benefits, particularly given the depth of the talk revealed in this study.