TABLE 2.

Summary of attributes for the ideal body image program.

Attributes	Program specifics	Quotations	Divergences
Where we want to attend a program	• Community-based (n = 2) • Online (n = 4) • Hospital-based (n = 3)	People don’t really want to have to come to the city. They want to be able to do it in their community. […] You don’t want to have to travel and I think that’s a big, big thing. P2 Everybody has such a busy life. It would be great to have some help online. With the younger women, more and more, everybody needs that. And between treatments and work and everything, you would like to have something at your fingertips. P10 Just a website that someone could say go a have a look at what you could hope for or what happened to other people and you could have an idea of what you’re facing. P19 It would make more sense if it happened at the hospital. P18	Non-hospital (n = 5) I’d have a room that’s not sterile because you’ve been in these sterile situations over and over and over again. Something that’s like warm and inviting and cozy. […] Not in a hospital. P16 It costs $13 every time you go. […] People have to then travel from wherever they live to come to the hospital and fight to find parking, and have to pay for parking, and it’s just wrong. As a patient, you pay so much for parking already, so people aren’t going to go. P2
When we want a program	• Across the cancer continuum (n = 3) • Pre-diagnosis (n = 1) • At or immediately post-diagnosis (n = 4) • Post-surgery (n = 3) • During treatment (n = 3) • Post-treatment (n = 6)	I think before treatment starts is a good one. […] Then part way through, a check-up with women. […] And then at the end of treatment.P21 If after surgery you’re in the hospital […] just having somebody that’s engaging you on this topic.P26 While going through treatment.P17 Stopping treatment also is a huge up hill. It’s like “now what?” That would be a good time for the workshop. P14	Not during treatment (n = 2) Personally, as a breast cancer patient, if you organize a workshop on body image, I would laugh. It’s just not where I’m at. I’m not going willingly go to a workshop while I’m in treatment. P26
How we want a program (i.e., format)	• Peer-led program (n = 7) • One-on-one counseling (n = 1) • Special events (n = 5), presentations/workshops (n = 10) • A compilation of resources women can access on their own (n = 2) • Support groups for women that facilitate discussion and encourage friendly relationships (n = 8)	I feel like everybody diagnosed with cancer should have a one-on-one mentor with someone who went through it. P18 If the hospital were to put on something about breast cancer, like body image, I think women would come out of the woodwork to do that. P23 Maybe some lectures with subjects [where] I don’t have to open my mouth, I just listen and learn. P17 I wish there was a sort of formal class. P9 A workshop that essentially helps you to restore your physical self, your appearance, and helps to promote feeling good about yourself. P1 I’m a literature person. P15 I think support group would be a really important part. […] Different support groups for different needs, for different women. P13
What we want in a program	• Self-care: – Promoting healthy eating (n = 3) – Encouraging physical activity for improved health and wellbeing (n = 6) – Giving sleep advice (n = 3) – Discussing body size, shape, and weight management (n = 2) • Counseling and education for oneself: – Promoting self-compassion (n = 12) – Focusing on inner strength more so than appearance (n = 5) – Building resistance to body-based stereotypes/prejudices (n = 4) – Supporting spiritual growth – which can exist within or independent of religion – to feel more connected with life (n = 3) – Building confidence (n = 1) – Discussing typical physical changes (n = 6) – Learning to deal with stress and mental health issues (n = 2) – Discussing sexuality/sexual health (n = 5)	The male part of the equation really needs some help and understanding. Understanding how a female feels, what she’s going through, and what she might want as well. P13 I think eating properly, sleeping properly, keeping your body weight within a good range of what it should be. P12 Having a makeup artist, having beautiful clothes that you can wear […]. Wearing that piece of clothing, that beautiful dress, that makes you feel good. […] So doing that type of workshop, that self-care workshop. P17 I wish there was a sort of formal class or something that I could have gone to that was designed for strength, stretching, and movement. You still need that strength to move and to be engaged in your life. […] I think that’s a critical piece of accepting your body. P9 I would try to tell them to be happy with themselves and that really how you look is not that important to other people. P11 If a workshop were to focus on strategies of accepting yourself and maybe strategies of dealing with messaging or pressures, whether that be, at large, sort of media and public images, or from friends or family. That could be helpful. P3	Do not focus on make-up and clothing (n = 2) Do you know the Look Good, Feel Better? I had a really hard time with that. I didn’t enjoy it and part of me gets it, but another part of me doesn’t. I guess it’s because I’ve never been a big make-up person and all that kind of stuff. So it wouldn’t be like that is what I’m saying. P14
	• Education for others (n = 3) • Support for addressing sexuality/sexual health concerns (n = 3) • Concealing treatment-related changes (n = 4)	Downgrading those stereotypes and letting the participants know that they have control over how they see their body and what they can do and that they don’t have to fit in that mold that’s been set by society. P5 I guess just allow people to know that “Here’s 10 ladies who had lumpectomies and here’s what their breasts look like afterward” so when you get your lumpectomy and you look and see what you’ve got you can think well that’s about average. If you look at it without knowing what other lumpectomies look like, you might think “Oh shit that looks like crap.” But when you can compare it to other women, you might get a sense of well that’s as good as they can do I guess. P19 A workshop that focuses on women really working on self-acceptance and not judging. Finding their own strengths and beauty, their own natural beauty, and defining it in different terms. P13 Focus on inner strength. How do we make a person feel to how do we make a person to accept these difficult circumstances and how to make that person feel that no you have not lost anything. P27 I would definitely start with a mental health component, that would be number one for me. P14 Maybe you have somebody who is a body image specialist who helps improve sexual awareness for instance, because that’s a very big topic around women my age who have breast cancer, but where do we find those resources? Between ourselves, we get our own speakers, we get people to talk to us, we go for talks and stuff like that, but having somebody organize something like that for us, so if there’s a professional that you can also ask those tough questions to would be helpful. P26 My main issue is weight so if I want to optimize my body image, I do have to work toward losing a little bit of weight and firming up the arms, the legs, and the abdomen area. P5
Who we think should deliver a program	Team approach – women diagnosed with breast cancer and health professionals (n = 4) Women diagnosed with breast cancer (n = 16) Health professionals (n = 11) Make-up artists and/or clothing stylists (n = 1)	I think your best bet is a mix of medical professionals and peers; people who have been through it themselves. I would say both. P14 For me, it would be helpful if I heard it from people who have gone through it. It touches me more from people who have experienced what I have experienced and who have overcome their insecurities and have back their self-confidence because that’s what you strive to be like. P25 A nurse or a doctor could talk about health or the issues about the body image. P5
		I think a nurse. […] They’re really helpful, very knowledge, and really a little bit more in tune with the patients and their emotional needs. P16 Have somebody who is a body image specialist. P26 Having a professional makeup artist there. […] Someone from a prosthetics or a mastectomy store who’s worked with women in fitting bras and undergarments and bathing suits and gowns and stuff like that. P7	Non-health professionals (n = 5) Not a healthcare professional because healthcare professionals are not, in my opinion, exposed to these things. P27 Surgeons are technical. So I would say no. P7