Conversação em rede de pacientes oncológicos: grupo do facebook como estratégia de enfrentamento?

Abstract

Cancer is considered one of the main public health problems in the world, and incidence rates are expected to increase throughout the country in the coming years. From the moment of diagnosis and beginning of therapy, the conditions for coping and understanding of patients need attention, given the emotional impact of this stigmatized disease. For this, the advancement of technologies and the insertion of the internet in everyday life made it possible for communication mediated by computers to become one of the main means for clarifying doubts and sharing experiences by virtual communities, especially for those facing health conditions such as cancer. This study had as general objective to know the conversation in the network of cancer patients in a Facebook group. This was a qualitative study with a Netnography design, an analysis process based on analytical coding described by Kozinets (2017). From the analysis process, two main categories were identified: 1) “Try it and then tell me”: sharing and recommendations based on the knowledge arising from the experience. 2) “Everything happens with God's permission”: religious/spiritual coping in the experience of cancer. The study in this virtual community allowed us to understand how enriching the interaction between cancer patients can be, who, by producing knowledge during their coexistence with cancer, become potentiators of self-care, self-management and active participation in the treatment process. These dialogues become a subsidy to offer patients better conditions for understanding their illness process, since the insertion of health professionals in the online context can contribute to improving care and the process of knowledge translation, enabling comprehensive care and equitable as recommended by the Public Health System.