Neoplasm and family: understanding the symbolic meanings - doi: 10.4025/cienccuidsaude.v9i2.8749

Abstract

This work was based on the assumptions of the Symbolic Interactionism and the Data Based Theory, for the understanding of the experience of having a family member with cancer. Five families of adult patients diagnosed with cancer were submitted to the study, totalizing twelve people. Data were collected at home, interviewing two or three family members, using the guiding question "How has the experience of having this illness in the family?" The transcribed interviews were analyzed following the initial steps of the Data Based Theory and indicated the conceptual categories: “Being diagnosed with cancer”; “Facing the disease”; ”Suffering the consequences” and “Going over the limits”, showing how the family reorganizes itself to overcome the crises. Understanding how the family faces the challenge imposed by the disease, and how the members develops strategies to overcome difficulties, guides the nursing towards a kind of care focused on the family.