Physical, Emotional and Socioeconomic Needs in the Post-Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer: a Qualitative Study

Abstract

Introduction: Head and neck cancer patients are a group with complex needs barely studied in the post-treatment phase. Objective: To understand the experience and needs of the head and neck cancer survival phase from the perspective of the patients themselves, their families, and health professionals from oncology services. Method: Qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study, using the hermeneutic-dialectic methodological framework. Semi-structured interviews and focus group were adopted as data production techniques. Results: The empirical material was organized into three categories of needs physical, emotional and socioeconomic and structured in three broad senses involving the consequences of the biological, psychological, and socioeconomic impact of the disease and its treatment. The aspects related to the adaptations of eating habits, communication and management of the treatment effects stand out for the first; emotional support for patients and families in the second, and information about social benefits for the third impact. Conclusion: The physical, emotional, and socioeconomic needs of the disease and its treatment are intertwined to form a complex network of challenges for public cancer control policies in Brazil.