Resilience and Occupational Reconversion in Women Living with Cancer

"Pilot Project"

Women's Resilience and Economic Self-Management who Live with Gynecologic Cancer

It aims to promote a self-sustainable initiative through training and generation of knowledge, skills, and abilities in women “heads of households” with different gynecological-oncological pathologies that are treated at the “Bertha Calderon Roque” Hospital.

It seeks to promote their resilience to the impact of living with cancer, build capacities for economic self-management, greater autonomy, and less abandonment to treatment.

The initiative will facilitate women with voluntary participation to be trained in “Sewing and Clothing” learning about various high-demand products (gowns, blankets, handkerchiefs, and sleeves to prevent lymphedema, among others). The manufacture of handmade breast prostheses and crafts will be promoted.

We will contribute to reducing the emotional burden resulting from the hours or days of hospitalization, which leads to loneliness and concern about the care of minor children under the protection of relatives.

With the support of the psychology area and social work, resilience and occupational reorientation will be promoted as a rehabilitation strategy together with in-hospital treatment.

A workshop will be set up with sewing machines, furniture, and necessary materials in a space allocated by the hospital authorities. A certified teacher in sewing and tailoring, with experience in didactics, will be hired for a limited time.

In addition, a “Tiendita Solidaria” will be implemented which will generate profits that will be distributed among the women participants for the purposes of self-management for economic productivity during their hospital stay.

Women, according to their socio-economic profile, will be given a sewing machine so that they can continue to work in the comfort of their homes, reducing the risk of abandonment of treatment and increasing survival.

Among the activities to be developed, and not limited to these will be:

Establish the responsibilities of the workshop with the authorities, and extended to the areas of oncology, social work, and psychology of the hospital, and patients admitted with voluntary participation.
Enable in conjunction with the hospital a sewing and tailoring workshop.
Design, reproduction, and distribution of printed and audiovisual materials for educational and informational purposes.
Training courses in sewing and tailoring, economic self-management, and self-care of health.
Manage the consulting of the hospital’s accounting and financial areas.

Production, offer and sale of handmade products, to solve the sequelae by treatment of gynecological cancer, including breast mutilation, but not limited to this field.

"Pilot Project"

Women's Resilience and Economic Self-Management who Live with Gynecologic Cancer

Project progress