Dados do Resumo

Título

PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY IN BRAZIL – 30 YEARS OF HISTORY

Introdução

Psycho-oncology in Brazil dates to the late 1980s, when a group of psychologists and health professionals started scientific meetings to discuss the specific needs of a patient diagnosed with cancer and emotional suffering. The first official Brazilian psycho-oncology meeting happened in 1989 in Curitiba. In São Paulo 1994, the 1st Brazilian Congress of Psycho-Oncology took place, celebrating the founding of the Brazilian Society of Psycho-Oncology.

Objetivo

Elucidate that the complex emotional processes triggered in cancer patients require a specialized professional, which leads to the specificity of Psycho-oncology as an area of activity.

Métodos

Literature review through electronic databases and books, carried out in September 2024 with the descriptors: psycho-oncology, history, Brazil.

Resultados

The researches into the history of psycho-oncology in Brazil as an area of activity that requires a specialized professional, demonstrates that many forms of cancer are preventable, diagnosed early, treated and cured, which makes the psychological work specialized, be it assessment, support, counseling, rehabilitation or individual, group and family psychotherapy, an important facilitator in the transmission of the diagnosis, adherence to treatment and relief from their side effects, in obtaining a better life quality and, in patients at the end of life, a better quality of death or in his way to death. Although Psycho-Oncology is a multidisciplinary area of activity, in our country it has been developed for over 30 years, mainly by psychologists. Around 90% of attendance at Congresses and most contributions to them have been from psychologists.

Conclusões

With over 30 years of research and practice of psycho-oncology in Brazil, we have concluded the complexity of the emotional effects triggered by cancer patients and the importance of a specialized professional in psycho-oncology to be able to competently and ethically care for these patients and all those involved in this process.

Palavras Chave

Psycho-Oncology; history; Brazil