Abstract

DE OLIVEIRA, Mirian Daiane; DE SOUZA, Mariana Pittarelli; FUENTES, Júlia Angeloni  and  PESSALACIA, Juliana Dias Reis. Cancer patients' experiences published in virtual social networks. Rev. cuba. inf. cienc. salud [online]. 2020, vol.31, n.3, e1580.  Epub Oct 30, 2020. ISSN 2307-2113.

Virtual social networks may serve as information sources complementary to traditional ones, since analysis of the way in which people describe their experiences may lead to understanding the impact of the disease and its treatment. Our purpose was to identify and analyze the profile, perceptions and feelings of people with cancer who interact in virtual social networks. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted on the basis of virtual ethnography. Observations and semi-structured interviews were carried out. Thematic analysis of the data used the software ATLASTI 8 for their organization. Participants in the research were 18 subjects from two Facebook groups. Data collection started upon approval by the Ethics Committee. The following categories were drawn from the reports: motivations for sharing the experience; feelings experienced when sharing experiences in a virtual social network, influence of the virtual social network on perceptions of and knowledge about the disease; and experiences stemming from publications in the virtual social network. Results generally show that social networks positively influence the management of the disease via mutual support, the exchange of experiences, the expression of feelings and the knowledge generated.

Keywords : Cancer; Internet; social networks.

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