Life experiences of elderly with cancer pain: the existential comprehensive approach

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Understanding the experiences of elderly with cancer pain. METHOD Qualitative research based on Heidegger's phenomenology. 12 elderly cancer patients from a city in northwest Paraná were interviewed from November 2013 to February 2014. RESULTS Analysis performed by vague, median and interpretive understanding which resulted in two ontological themes: Cancer pain: unveiling the imprisonment and impositions experienced by the elderly, and Unveiling the anguish of living with cancer pain; it revealed not only how the elderly experience pain in their daily lives, but also how hard it is to live with its particularities. CONCLUSION Cancer pain has biopsychosocial repercussions for the elderly, generating changes in their existence in the world, requiring holistic and authentic care.

O significado de uma terapia integrativa de relaxamento guiado para mulheres com câncer de mama*

“…Heideggerian understanding was later used for the data analysis, which occurred in two stages: vague and medium understanding, which seeks to understand what is directly shown, meaning the essential structures of the studied phenomenon which emerge from the participants' own statements; and hermeneutics, which seeks to unveil the phenomenon through the interpretation of the senses attributed by the participants (13,15) .…”

“…Historiography emerged from the ontic dimension of the being under study, when their age, marital status, number of children, professional occupation, diagnosis, prior surgery and oncological treatment were investigated. In historicity, we sought to analyze the phenomenal dimension of the participants' experiences, when the subjectivity expressed in the statements and in the group meeting was the focus of the analysis (13,15) .…”

“…The pronouns which indicated when the participants talked about themselves, their relationships, their daily activities, and other essential structures were highlighted in different forms of the testimonies. Next, hermeneutics was performed for the interpretative understanding of the senses identified in the dimension of the phenomenon (13,15) . With this, the three identified units of meaning emerged from the essential structures which revealed the senses of the phenomenon studied in the participants' statements.…”

Meanings and dimensions of cancer by sick people - a structural analysis of social representations

“…Pain is of concern to those who undergo antineoplastic treatment and to the survivors of the disease (23) . In addition, experiencing painful perception may involve both physical dysfunctions, beliefs, coping strategies, and social interactions of the patient (24) . In this sense, the pain sensation shows itself as a significant obstacle in the daily lives of these people, making it impossible to continue the routine or to perform simple everyday tasks.…”

Repercussões profissionais e cotidianas do adoecimento em pacientes do sexo masculino com câncer avançado

“…A dor aparece como signo de restrição imposto à sua forma de viver, alterando como e onde as atividades virão a ocorrer (Silva, Cabral & Christofell, 2010) e trazendo privações à vida pessoal, profissional e social. Isso provoca a sensação de aprisionamento causado pelo câncer e, consequentemente, pela dor, tal como evidenciado em um estudo empírico desenvolvido com idosos acometidos pelo câncer (Reticena, Beuter & Sales, 2015). Essas restrições também se fazem presentes na alimentação do sujeito, limitando quais alimentos ele pode ingerir, bem como a forma como podem ser ingeridos, o que torna o ato de comer menos prazeroso (Rezende, Brito, Malta, Schall & Modena, 2009).…”