This is a phenomenological study that aimed to understand the operative intentionality on the care experience for people with advanced cancer from the perspective of family caregivers. The research was conducted through non-directive interviews with five family caregivers of people diagnosed with advanced cancer attended at the Oncology Outpatient Clinic in a public hospital in inland Bahia, Brazil, in the first semester of 2008. As a phenomenological study, the experiential descriptions were submitted to ambiguity analysis, resulting in perceiving the main theme "giving care and being cared for: an interlacing experience". With the phenomenon unveiled, it was possible to understand that within the care relationship, the people involved live an ambiguous experience that opens up possibilities for transcendence, involving a transformation of world views, attitudes, and perceptions. In this way, health actions must be focused on dialogical relationships and on inter-subjectivity, both inherent to care context, in which the caregivers should be also included.
Care; Family; Philosophy in nursing