Life experiences of elderly with cancer pain: the existential comprehensive approach

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Understanding the experiences of elderly with cancer pain. METHOD: Qualitative research based on Heidegger's phenomenology. 12 elderly cancer patients from a city in northwest Paraná were interviewed from November 2013 to February 2014. RESULTS: Analysis performed by vague, median and interpretive understanding which resulted in two ontological themes: Cancer pain: unveiling the imprisonment and impositions experienced by the elderly, and Unveiling the anguish of living with cancer pain; it revealed not only how the elderly experience pain in their daily lives, but also how hard it is to live with its particularities. CONCLUSION: Cancer pain has biopsychosocial repercussions for the elderly, generating changes in their existence in the world, requiring holistic and authentic care.