Meetings and farewells: multiprofissional practices in anticipatory grief in oncological palliative care

Abstract

Antecipatory Grief is a gradual elaboration of mourning, from the losses arising from illness, being frequent from the diagnosis of serious and life-threatening diseases, such as oncological ones.  Palliative Care teams become facilitators of this process, given the objectives of this care. This is a qualitative research, dedicate to understand perception and professional practices of the members from a Oncological Palliative Care team at a Public Oncology Hospital, located in a capital of the Northeast Region of Brazil, in the face of Antecipatory Grief experienced by patients and caregivers. The sample consisted of 15 participants, including residentes and staffs, with data collection throug semi-structured interview, and subsequente analysis through Bardin’s Content Analysis, generating three categories. The results point to the influence of Palliative Care assumptions on management, highlightings communicational, trainning and teamwork aspects, although there is a tendency to direct demand to Psychology. Furthermore, there is a personal crossing of this action, mobilizing the professional’s perspective on themselves – their existence, their desire and directives.