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The European Cystic Fibrosis Association (CF Europe) promotes every year the European Cystic Fibrosis Week. From 15 to 21 of 2021, the Respiralia Foundation and the Cystic Fibrosis Balearic Association join the campaign that, on the occasion of this event, has launched the Spanish Federation of Cystic Fibrosis (FEFQ).
Effects of the disease on body image
In this campaign, the Spanish Cystic Fibrosis Federation wants to show the effects that Cystic Fibrosis has on the body image of people with this disease. In fact, there can be physical and psychological difficulties that can have a significant impact on the development of the body and on their self-esteem.
Personal reflections
This campaign is based on the personal reflections of young people who have physical marks caused by more or less aggressive treatments or, simply, by the effects of Cystic Fibrosis at an internal level, such as lack of weight or height gain. In this video they talk about how it has affected them in terms of social integration.
Guide “Body Image and Cystic Fibrosis”.
The FEFQ has published the guide “Body Image and Cystic Fibrosis” in downloadable digital format and in printed format. It gathers individual experiences of anonymous people with Cystic Fibrosis about different aspects of their body image related to the disease. Among them are their scars, body mass index (BMI), height, shape of fingers, sweating or taking medication through portacath or gastric buttons.
Based on the Cystic Fibrosis Trust’s 2019 publication, this magazine aims to challenge the widespread ideas of beauty that we see every day in the media and social networks.
Stereotypical society
“We live in a society where stereotypes are the order of the day and this generates problems of acceptance of oneself as one is. If you add to this the difficulties derived from a disease like Cystic Fibrosis, the problem increases. For this reason, with this campaign we wanted to seek the naturalness and the first-person experience of people with CF themselves, in order to bring society closer to the reality of what at first sight is not usually seen and that, at the same time, serves to help other people to normalize what happens to them and improve their wellbeing”, comments Juan Da Silva, president of the FEFQ.
