Cancer Patients and their Social Representations about the Disease: Impacts and Confrontations of the Diagnosis
Introduction: The diagnosis of cancer affects several aspects, whether emotional, relationships, spiritual and financial, making it an important public health problem worldwide. Objective: To analyze the structure of social representations of cancer for adult hospitalized cancer patients and reveal...
| Autores: | , , , , , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2022 |
| País: | Brasil |
| Recursos: | Instituto Nacional de Câncer José Alencar Gomes da Silva (INCA) |
| Repositorio: | Revista Brasileira de Cancerologia (Online) |
| Idioma: | portugués inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:rbc.inca.gov.br:article/1935 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://rbc.inca.gov.br/index.php/revista/article/view/1935 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | neoplasias assistência ao paciente psicologia social enfermagem oncológica adaptação psicológica neoplasms patient care psychology, social oncology nursing adaptation, psychological atención al paciente psicología social enfermería oncológica adaptación psicológica |
| Resumo: | Introduction: The diagnosis of cancer affects several aspects, whether emotional, relationships, spiritual and financial, making it an important public health problem worldwide. Objective: To analyze the structure of social representations of cancer for adult hospitalized cancer patients and reveal its relations with daily aspects of coping with the diagnosis and sickening by this pathology. Method: Qualitative, descriptive and exploratory based in the Theory of Social Representations. The scenario was a federal cancer hospital in the city of Rio de Janeiro, with 111 participants living the oncological sickening. Free evocations related to the inducing term “cancer” were collected and a questionnaire was applied to characterize the patients. The EVOC 2005 software was utilized for the analyses. Results: Mostly male participants (69.3%), with elementary education (57.6%) appeared as probable core nucleus: disease, sadness and death. The reified knowledge of cancer is given through the word “diseaseˮ. The predominance of negative elements is recognized, although there are some positive ones such as treatment, cure and God in the representation of the group. The current disease carries stigma, making coping a painful and sad process. Conclusion: It is possible to detect the regret the patients express for being with cancer, while hope exists and moves them towards the cure. It is identified the need for the nurse to focus on the spiritual and religious dimensions during the caring process, understanding the individual as a unique and complex being that demands centered care. |
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