Itinerários no adoecimento pelo câncer: entre mulheres, homens e culturas

Abstract

Cancer has gained increasing prominence in public health worldwide, as with each new estimate the cases increase, this is related to a population progressively more exposed to risk factors over long periods. Thus, understanding how individuals experience illness is essential to assist in the dynamics of health care. This research aims to interpret the therapeutic itineraries experienced by women and men sick with cancer. Qualitative methodology study using the theoretical framework of Medical Anthropology, being developed in the oncology unit of a public hospital that is a reference in the southern region of Brazil. 63 patients were interviewed using the indepth interview data collection technique, and the data were analyzed using the thematic analysis technique, which served as a basis for the construction of the participants' narratives. Based on the experience of the 32 men and 31 women participating, it was possible to elaborate two narratives, the first one being entitled “Female experiences in illness: submissions in treatment”, a time when women reported greater concern in the care of their health, being part of of the care performed with the use of formal knowledge ­ medical knowledge ­ and the other informal ­ common sense. While, in the second narrative, “Power x Disease: experiencing masculinity in becoming ill with cancer”, men only sought help when there was an aggravation of the disease, that is, they delayed assuming that they were ill, as this is a behavior that makes their masculinities vulnerable. Thus, the study of the therapeutic itineraries of women and men helped identify the existence of vulnerable behaviors for both, but in their singularities, where women were more vulnerable in the psychological and social dimension, while men were vulnerable because they did not recognize themselves as such. Both experiences of gender interfere in the decision­making for health care, therefore interfering in the course of illness.