1.A phenomenological study on the decision-making experience of breast reconstruction among breast cancer patients: from the perspective of ethics of care
Mengyu OU ; Fengmin CHENG ; Jiawenli LI ; Huan ZHANG ; Guofeng KUANG
Chinese Medical Ethics 2026;39(7):958-966
Against the backdrop of a continuously rising incidence of breast cancer globally, breast reconstruction surgery represents one of the key measures to improve patients’ quality of life. Ethics of care emphasizes paying attention to patients’ actual needs in doctor-patient interactions and advocates creating a decision-making environment that facilitates the explicit expression of these needs. Focusing on the decision-making process of 16 breast cancer patients who underwent breast reconstruction surgery and stemming from the perspective of ethics of care, this paper explored the realization paths of autonomy for breast cancer patients when confronting medical decisions on breast reconstruction from three aspects, including the situatedness, relationality, and practicality of ethics of care. The study found that under the ethics of care, the organic interaction of contextualized practice, relational negotiation, and subjectivity cultivation jointly constructed a dynamically evolving medical decision-making ecosystem. This ecosystem, with situational response capabilities based on embodied cognition, relational adjustment mechanisms linked by ethical negotiation, and dual-track support networks aimed at subject empowerment, ultimately achieved the in-depth integration of technical practice and humanistic care.

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