Experience of patients newly diagnosed with onco-hematology diseases

• Grant number: 18/14922-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2018
• End date: November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Psychological Treatment and Prevention
• Principal Investigator: Érika Arantes de Oliveira-Cardoso
• Grantee: Yara Luana Pereira de Souza
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The diagnosis of a disease with a prognosis as severe as cancer is often experienced as a "death sentence", which can trigger the anticipatory grieving process. This study aims to understand the process of anticipatory grief experienced in patients newly diagnosed with onco-hematology diseases. More specifically, it's intended to: investigate the senses of illness; investigate the already lived experiences (mourning for the loss of health, struggles for social roles, among others); understand the experience of anticipatory mourning; identify sources of support; and know wishes, current needs, expectations and plans of the participants. This qualitative, descriptive-exploratory study will have as a theoretical reference the anticipatory grief. The convenience sample will be composed of adult patients of both genders hospitalized in a hematology ward. The collect will be done in the period of one semester. For the construction of the corpus of analysis, a semi-structured interview will be applied, based on a thematic roadmap. Data collect will be performed individually, face-to-face, and audiotaped. The content will be literally and integrally transcribed and submitted to thematic content analysis. Subsequently, the results will be systematized in the thematic categories and interpreted based on the theory of anticipatory mourning. This research hopes to produce knowledge that helps in understanding the patient's anticipatory grief experience and, from this, offer suggestions to improve the multi-professional team's intervention.