O câncer e seu tratamento exercem grande influência sobre os pacientes e seus familiares. Esse estudo buscou conhecer a vivência e sentimentos do cuidador familiar do paciente oncológico em cuidados paliativos. Trata-se de pesquisa descritiva com abordagem qualitativa, na qual participaram seis cuidadores familiares de portadores de câncer em cuidados paliativos, vinculados ao Sistema de Internação Domiciliar de Londrina/Paraná. Os dados foram coletados no período de junho a agosto de 2008, por meio da entrevista semi-estruturada gravada. Utilizou-se a Análise Temática de Conteúdo de Bardin para categorizar os discursos coletados. As categorias evidenciadas foram a Trajetória do cuidador frente à doença terminal e a Percepção do cuidador acerca da situação, com as subcategorias: Do diagnóstico aos cuidados paliativos no domicílio; Câncer como sinônimo de morte e sofrimento; Mudanças no cotidiano do cuidador; Dependência e infantilização do doente; Morte como vontade de Deus e Sentimentos frente ao sofrimento. Os resultados apontam para a importância de os profissionais da saúde considerarem paciente e cuidador como unidade de cuidado, pois o cuidador familiar constitui peça fundamental na fase final da doença e está sujeito a sentimentos como medo, angústia e impotência diante da proximidade da morte da pessoa à qual direciona os cuidados.

This analy cal, cross-sec onal study applied a quan ta ve approach to verify the presence of depression and the adherence to a chemotherapy treatment in pa ents with cancer at the central chemotherapy pharmacy of a university hospital. The sample consisted of 102 pa ents, and data were collected from October 2010 to May 2011. A structured interview was used to obtain sociodemographic, clinical and therapeu c data; the Morisky Test and Beck Depression Inventory were also applied. The results revealed that 10.8% and 1.9% of par cipants had moderate and severe depression, respec vely. The presence of depression was signifi cantly associated with variables such as income per capita, the number of surgeries, and disease dura on. A lack of treatment adherence was iden fi ed in 48% of par cipants. These results indicate the need for health staff training to detect depressive disorders and chemotherapy treatment a ri on among pa ents with cancer.

OBJECTIVE:to verify depressive symptoms and adherence to chemotherapy among women with breast cancer who are served by the Pharmacy of the Chemotherapy Center of a university hospital.METHOD: cross-sectional study with quantitative approach conducted with 112 women receiving chemotherapy. Structured interviews guided by a script addressing socio-demographic, clinical and therapeutic information, the Morisky Test, and the Beck Depression Inventory were used to collect data. RESULTS: 12.50% and 1.78% of the patients experienced "moderate" and "severe" depression, respectively, while 10.59% did not use antidepressant medication. A statistically significant association was found between levels of depression and the use of antidepressants. Lack of adherence was identified in 46.43% of the participants. CONCLUSION: these findings show the need to regularly screen for depressive symptoms and for adherence to chemotherapy treatment among women with breast cancer, in order to provide early detection and appropriate treatment centered on patients, and to improve their quality of life.

This is a descriptive study which aimed to investigate the impact of the effects of reconstructive surgery in the life of women with breast cancer. Semistructured and audiorecorded, interviews were held with 14 women who had had mastectomies, who were registered in a rehabilitation center. Social Representation Theory was used for discussion of the data. Thematic analysis guided the analysis of the data. The categories which emerged from the interviews are related to the way in which the woman sees herself after the reconstruction, and what this meant in her life, and how she perceives its benefits and lives with the resulting limitations. The reconstruction of the breast, in some cases, allowed recovery of self-image and overcoming of the trauma caused by the disease. On the other hand, the postoperative complications gave rise to fear of further loss, fear of compromise in the sexual sphere, and fear in the perception of the reconstructed breast. The health team must offer appropriate information such that the woman may participate in the decisions regarding the operation.