Young people in oncological treatment during COVID-19: indicators of the social representation of the coronavírus

Abstract

Objectives: to understand indicators of the social representation of the coronavirus in adolescents undergoing cancer treatment during the COVID -19pandemic. Methods: the theory of social representations was used as theoretical and methodological support in its procedural approach in an exploratory study of a qualitative nature. The free word association technique was used in the application of virtual forms using guidelines of the snowball method. The terms ‘Coronavirus’, ‘Going to the hospital’ and ‘Cancer treatment’ were applied. After that moment, the participants were asked for a hierarchy and justification of the evoked words. Data analysis was based on content analysis and frequency distribution of the content produced. Results: articulations were made on the impacts that the pandemic situation had on the treatment experience of that population. It was identified a character endowed with fear and tension about the elaboration of the reality of these subjects in the current period in face of the inevitability of a hospital scenario that facilitates contamination and facing the immunological vulnerability characteristic of their treatments. Conclusions: the participants constructed different contents of psychological suffering aimed at expressions of fear and insecurity experienced during the pandemic period in the face of assistance in the hospital setting. This study is understood as a contribution to more effective actions in order to adapt the care plan of this population, aiming at future professional interventions.