Designing with cancer patients' needs in focus

For breast cancer patients, everyday clothing can become a challenge, but a University of Cincinnati professor is using design to create garments built around their needs, comfort and confidence.

Kristina Shin is an assistant professor of design in UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning (DAAP). Shin's interest in medical garment design began while she was teaching intimate apparel in Hong Kong. While supervising an undergraduate student's thesis concerning the bra needs of women following mastectomies, she became increasingly aware of how difficult it could be for breast cancer patients to find post-mastectomy products that were comfortable, appropriate and affordable.

The experience prompted Shin to look beyond conventional fashion applications and consider how her expertise in intimate apparel, patternmaking, fit and garment construction could address health-related needs.

Since joining the University of Cincinnati, that interest has developed into a broader program of medical garment research. As an associate research member of the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, Shin works with clinicians and researchers to explore how garment design can complement healthcare and improve patients' everyday experiences.

For Shin, the strength of these collaborations lies in bringing together expertise that traditionally sits in different disciplines. Physicians and other healthcare professionals contribute essential knowledge of disease, treatment and patient care, while Shin contributes specialized expertise in how garments interact with the body through fit, materials, construction and pattern design.

"I am not a medical doctor, but I know fashion design," Shin said. "When different disciplines work together, they can create synergy."

One focus of Shin's current research is the development of ergonomic compression garments for women with breast cancer-related lymphedema, a condition that can occur following breast cancer treatment and cause swelling in the arms and surrounding areas.

Shin's background in intimate apparel has been particularly relevant to this work. Intimate apparel requires close attention to body shape, fit, support, pressure and comfort - knowledge that can be transferred to the development of garments for healthcare applications.

Her previous medical garment research has included the development of a mastectomy breast prosthesis and a clip designed to convert a conventional fashion bra into a mastectomy bra, and her longstanding relationships with manufacturers and suppliers in Asia have also given her insight into product development beyond the design studio. These experiences have helped shape an approach that connects design research with clinical expertise, patient needs and knowledge of garment development and manufacturing.

Her current compression garment research continues that trajectory.

Rather than treating medical garments solely as functional devices, Shin is interested in how design can respond to the whole person. For someone recovering from breast cancer treatment or managing a long-term condition such as lymphedema, what she wears can affect not only physical comfort but also confidence, body image and participation in everyday life.

This is where Shin believes fashion design has an important role within interdisciplinary healthcare research.

"They just need somebody to care for them," Shin said, reflecting on patients whose everyday needs may not always be visible.

For Shin, making those needs visible is part of the designer's role. Her research asks how the knowledge of fashion design can be combined with clinical expertise and patients' lived experiences to create garments that respond more thoughtfully to the body.

"I am so proud that I can help them in a way that is restoring," Shin said. "Although it is not permanent, wearing them will help women functionally and also psychologically."

Ultimately, Shin sees medical garment design as an area in which fashion can extend beyond aesthetics and contribute directly to quality of life. By bringing together fashion design, healthcare and patient experience, her work seeks to address needs that conventional fashion has too often overlooked.

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Featured image at top of Shin's draft pattern for her compression garment. Photos/provided

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