Access and waiting for ostomy according to people with colorectal cancer: an ethnographic study

Abstract

Introduction: The access of people with colorectal cancer to surgical treatment with stomization implies a difficult itinerary through the network of care, and when accessing the tertiary level in an apprehensive preoperative waiting. Objective: To know the access and waiting for stomization of people sick with colorectal cancer at the tertiary level of the Brazilian Unified Health System. Materials and Methods: Ethnographic study based on the Sociology of Health, with 8 relatives and 14 patients in a High Complexity Oncology Center, Brazil. Data were collected between October 2018 to March 2019, with participant and non-participant observation, field diary recording, and semi-structured interview. Statements and ethnographic notes after triangulation were subjected to inductive content analysis in six steps. Results: "The history of illness interspersed with difficulties" and "The losses in the process of patience-resilience along the way" were apprehended. Discussion: Three types of access were reported, as well as the sub-meanings "I paid privately" and the diagnostic delay mobilized by official and unofficial means in the Unified Health System. Social capital is pressing, a network without which users' access is impacted. At the tertiary level while waiting for stomization, resilience was unveiled not as a heroic resource, but as a personal and collective resource. Conclusion: The access counted on relational mobilization and a range of paths to hospitalization with part of the journey in supplementary health, while the waiting for stomization mitigates patience making resilience a beneficial resource in the wait for surgical programming.