Sex after Cancer: Co-Designing Bespoke Care Technologies for Post-Cancer Bodies

Paper Title

Sex after Cancer: Co-Designing Bespoke Care Technologies for Post-Cancer Bodies

Publication Info

• Topic area: Co-design of care technologies for addressing post-cancer sexuality challenges.
• Keywords: post-cancer sexuality, co-design, bespoke care technologies, trauma-informed design, intimate health, colorectal cancer, survivorship, embodied design, feminist HCI, crip theory.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Sexuality and intimacy after cancer are under-addressed in survivorship care, with existing interventions focusing on biomedical solutions that neglect the psychological, relational, and cultural dimensions of sexuality. Prior design research in HCI has not adequately addressed the intersection of sexuality, cancer survivorship, and sexual re-engagement.
• Significance: Addressing post-cancer sexuality is crucial for improving survivors' quality of life, as it affects body image, relational dynamics, and emotional well-being. Survivors often navigate these challenges in silence, with little support from healthcare systems.
• Motivation and related work: While HCI has explored intimate health topics such as menstruation and pelvic floor health, post-cancer sexuality remains underexplored. Existing work highlights the need for person-centered, situated care technologies that resist medicalization and address survivors' lived experiences. This paper builds on these insights to explore bespoke, co-designed interventions.

Solution

• Proposed approach: The study introduces a trauma-informed, co-design methodology to create bespoke care technologies tailored to the lived sexual experiences of cancer survivors. Two artefacts were developed: the Lived Experiences Archive and BodyTalk.
• Novelty:
  1. Development of two bespoke care technologies co-designed with cancer survivors.
  2. Methodological insights into trauma-informed, relational co-design for intimate health.
  3. Empirical contributions to understanding the complexities of post-cancer sexuality.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  1. Conducted two remote, trauma-informed workshops with colorectal cancer survivors.
  2. Used generative design activities, including somaesthetic exercises, narrative mapping, and generative probes, to surface lived experiences.
  3. Iteratively developed and refined prototypes based on contributors' feedback.
  4. Designed artefacts to address specific needs: Lived Experiences Archive (a ‘zine series sharing survivor stories) and BodyTalk (a sensory game for couples to rebuild intimacy).

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Lived Experiences Archive: A series of tactile, analogue ‘zines featuring anonymized survivor narratives, designed for private, reflective engagement and peer support.
  • BodyTalk: A sensory game combining conversation prompts and touch exercises, including thermal gloves, to facilitate emotional and physical reconnection for couples.
• Advantage over baselines: The artefacts resist medicalized, one-size-fits-all solutions by centering survivors' lived experiences and relational dynamics. They offer holistic, situated support for emotional and physical aspects of post-cancer sexuality.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Two workshops with colorectal cancer survivors (n=2) using mailed kits and remote video calls.
  • Data collected through recordings, generative outputs, and field notes.
  • Analysis followed an iterative–inductive spiral to preserve contextual nuance.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Small sample size (n=2, both male contributors) limits generalizability.
  • Future work should include diverse gender identities and partner perspectives.
  • No formal clinical evaluation of artefacts; focus was on co-design as care.
  • Explore scalability and adaptation of bespoke approaches to other health contexts.

Summary

This paper explores how co-design can address the neglected issue of post-cancer sexuality. Through trauma-informed workshops with two colorectal cancer survivors, the authors developed two bespoke care technologies: the Lived Experiences Archive, a tactile ‘zine series sharing survivor narratives, and BodyTalk, a sensory game for couples to rebuild intimacy. The study highlights the value of bespoke, situated designs that resist medicalization and center survivors' lived experiences. While limited by its small sample size, the work provides methodological and empirical insights into designing for intimate health in vulnerable contexts, offering a foundation for future research and care innovations.