Psycho-oncology Bibliotherapy Program for Improving the Emotional Wellbeing of People Undergoing Cancer Treatment: Literature Review and Preliminary Findings

Reading has long been acknowledged as beneficial to physical and mental health. Many studies confirm bibliotherapy, or reading for therapy, has a meaningful place in the treatment toolkit for mild to moderate mental health conditions, chronic pain and loneliness. However, the joy and health benefits of reading can be denied to those undergoing cancer treatment because reading can become a frustrating, demanding activity due to cancer-related cognitive impairment. Fortunately, listening to a story provides a way to share stories with those suffering from this common side-effect. Integrative oncology employs a number of complementary therapies, however there is also a potential place for bibliotherapy. Utilising the warmth of real-time, in-person reading aloud, this research explores the extent to which a read-aloud program is associated with improvements in the emotional wellbeing of people undergoing cancer treatment. Bibliotherapy comes in many guises and fiction was utilised in this study. A potential outcome of this study may be to help make a case for the use of bibliotherapy as a psychosocial intervention for people affected by cancer, in particular under the guise of bibliotherapy via reading aloud. This project was presented at the 2022 RAILS conference and this paper describes the background and methodology.