ABSTRACT
Objective:
to understand the experience of families facing cancer in palliative care of one of its members.
Method:
this is a qualitative research based on the theoretical-methodological framework of Grounded Theory. Six families participated, totaling 15 people. Data were collected from January to December 2019 in the homes of families in a municipality in southern Brazil, through an in-depth interview with the construction of a genogram. Analysis followed the constant comparative method steps: open, selective and theoretical coding.
Results:
the concepts discovering cancer; suffering with the reality imposed by the illness; preparing to face illness; deciding on treatment; facing the finitude of life, they are part of the central category “Living one day at a time”, which symbolically defines families’ experiences. The substantive theory elaborated shows that the definitions, actions and strategies adopted by families, in family dynamics and in interpersonal interactions, along a trajectory that culminates in the terminality of a relative’s life, is permeated by hope maintenance.
Conclusion:
throughout the illness experience, families promote changes in their daily lives and in family dynamics, undergoing adaptations and using their internal strengths in an attempt to re-establish the balance prior to the disease. Families live with uncertainty about the future, but it is the hope that drives them to live one day at a time.
DESCRIPTORS:
Family; Hospice care; Neoplasm; Nursing; Grounded theory
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