Sex after Cancer
Co-Designing Bespoke Care Technologies for Post-Cancer Bodies
Céline Offerman (Erasmus MC, TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
Francesca Maria Mauri (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
Alessandro Bozzon (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
Jacky Bourgeois (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
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Abstract
Cancer treatment leaves survivors with sexual difficulties that extend beyond physical symptoms and permeate many aspects of life, yet these concerns remain neglected in current cancer care. This paper responds to this gap by exploring how bespoke co-designed care technologies can support survivors when grounded in their lived sexual experiences. We conducted trauma-informed, generative workshops with two cancer survivors. The workshops surfaced four themes: gaps in anticipatory care, shifts from lovers to carers, unsettled bodies and selfhood, and navigating fragmented support. Through co-designing, we created Lived Experiences Archive (a ĝzine series of anonymous survivor stories) and BodyTalk (a sensory couple game for rebuilding emotional and physical intimacy). Beyond the artefacts, we contribute a methodological account of co-designing as care and empirical insights into post-cancer sexuality. We demonstrate the epistemic potential of bespoke intimate health technologies to generate situated forms of care and knowledge often overlooked in conventional health technology design.
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