Corstrata is passionate about helping people with chronic wounds and ostomies. It is always a pleasure to meet like minded individuals. We had the good fortune to meet Carrie Reif-Stice, at a United Ostomy Associations of America support group for ostomates in Gulfport, MS. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Health Communications from the University of Southern Mississippi. Her thesis is centered on ostomates and improving their quality of life. The cornerstone of her research is an Ostomy Care Survey tool for ostomates. Her passion related to this important study stems from her personal experience with her father who has not one but two ostomies. Her personal story is attached - please take time to read it. If you are an ostomate, please help Carrie in this vital research and complete the survey via the link provided in the article. If you know someone with ostomy, please pass this along so they might participate.
Corstrata applauds Carrie’s efforts and is proud to be sharing her story and her survey with our contacts and blog readers.
Also, stay tuned, as Corstrata will be introducing in the next few weeks, our ostomy Telehealth consultation services directly to ostomates in the privacy of their own homes. We will provide ostomates access to our certified ostomy specialists for non-emergent ostomy related issues and concerns via live video.
Thanks in advance,
The Corstrata Ostomy Team
My name is Carrie Reif-Stice and I am doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication Studies with an emphasis in health communication at the University of Southern Mississippi. Currently, I am conducting research for my dissertation entitled: “Social support and responsiveness: Improving ostomates’ health-related quality of life.” I am seeking ostomy patients 18 years or older to participate in my survey.
My motivations to conduct this study are not only academic, but are also personal. My dad is a double ostomate with a colostomy (2005) and nephrostomy (2016). Initially, adjusting to his colostomy was fraught with many challenges. He suffered from depression, anger issues, and body image disturbance. Because he feared that others would accidentally discover his appliance, he refused to leave the house and experienced increased social isolation. Although the process took several years, he has now accepted his stoma and resumed pre-ostomy activities.
During his transition, my mom, sister, and I struggled to provide the right type of support to help with the challenges surrounding his stoma implementation. Because he felt stigmatized, my dad refused to self-disclose his feelings and ostomy-specific information with us. We often felt powerless in delivering the right response to facilitate the coping process and improve his quality of life. The inability to effectively communicate and provide appropriate support put a tremendous strain on our family. As a result of this experience, my goal is to conduct meaningful research that will help other patients and their families successfully cope and adjust to their ostomy.
The survey takes between 10-15 minutes to complete. All results from this study will be shared with Corstrata and the ostomy community. If you have any additional questions, please contact me at carrie.reif@usm.edu, or my advisors, Dr. Steven Venette at steven.venette@usm.edu, or Dr. Kathryn Anthony at Kathryn.Anthony@usm.edu.
Thanks,
Carrie Reif-Stice