PURPOSE

Go deeply into the barriers and problems that long-term surviving breast cancer must face to continue with their lives and what are the demands they suggest to society.

DESIGN

Qualitative study of interpretive type with a socio-constructivist perspective within the framework of the DAMA Cohort. SITE: the work was carried out in Barcelona.

PARTICIPANTS

The design of the sample was theoretical, and the participants were segmented taking into account the socioeconomic level and whether or not they had suffered any relapse.

METHOD

It was set up six discussion groups of 6 to 12 participants each. A thematic analysis of the literal transcription of the audio files of the focus groups was done.

RESULTS

It has been found that the consequences of suffering breast cancer are not the same for those women who are self-employed as for those who work for someone else. However, tasks that require physical effort are difficult to continue doing, but those that require concentration and more intellectual effort are also difficult to perform too. Also, a series of aspects have been identified that women believe should be improved in the Health System: the lack or type of information given by professionals, the economic limit of the Health System and its consequences, the lack of medical care when treating something not directly related to the tumour, lack of sensitivity by some professionals and difficulties in accessing social benefits.

CONCLUSIONS

The results show that the main demands by long-lived breast cancer survivors are: having a balance between breast cancer, working life and a more Comprehensive Health System.