This is the story of me: Designing audiovisual narratives to support reflection on cancer journeys

Abstract

Recovering from serious illness involves a bodily and psychosocial reorientation in everyday life. Survivors of gynecological cancer often experience bodily changes, fear of cancer recurrence, and changes in sexual health. This paper explores how we can use audiovisual narratives based on experiences of gynecological cancer survival in the design of an online intervention. From a typology of cancer survival, we designed three audiovisual narratives in an experience-centered design process involving gynecological cancer survivors. The narratives were evaluated by 10 participants formerly treated for gynecological cancer. In a thematic analysis, we explore how these narratives set the stage for identification and reflection by being experienced as relatable, provoking, and realistic. Finally, we discuss how the survivors' experience of the narratives can be construed as meaningful, and how accounts of experiences can be included in a design process to create narrative content for online interventions.