Abstract
To report the experience of rural families when having a father/husband with prostate cancer illness. Methods: qualitative research, conducted at the residence of four rural families with nine subjects. A semi-structured interview was used, and thematic categories were established by the data analysis. Results: men with cancer were between 66 and 68 years old, knowing the diagnosis at least four years ago. Respondents family members were wives or children, aged between 30 and 69 years old. Families worked on agriculture and livestock. The nominated category A prostate cancer in our life is formed by the sub-categories: discovery of the diagnosis; family support; changes resulting from illness and difficulties faced during treatment. Conclusion: the rural family experience is full of constant division of tasks between the care for the father/husband and work activities, changes in marital life, sadness, distress and hopes about an uncertain future.
Highlights
Depending on the severity, individualsillness can cause major changes in their daily lives in physical, psychological, economic and social aspects
The performance of tests for screening and early detection of prostate cancer are some self-care practices followed by the male population
The family is configured as a caregiver unit of the rural man with prostate cancer, involved in all phases of the health-disease, from diagnosis to treatment
Summary
Individualsillness can cause major changes in their daily lives in physical, psychological, economic and social aspects These modifications can be extended to the family sphere this individual belongs, since usually there are ties between him and his family, keeping them connected so the events happening to one family member can somehow compromise the operation of their routine and emotional stability of the others[1]. The family has a significant impact on health and well-being of each of its members, influencing on their illnesses[1] In this sense, family is a group of people united by emotional and/or biological bonds, committed to each other and usually participating in each others lives, reinforcing the idea that the family “is whom its members say they are”(1-2). Being with prostate cancer may have important consequences in the life of the man and his family, at any stage of the disease, from the emotional upheaval at diagnosis; fear of surgery; the uncertainty of the prognosis and recurrence; the effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, referring to sexuality in its broader aspects; the fear of pain and facing an undignified death
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