The return to the community after cancer treatment: from safety to reality check.

The survivorship of children diagnosed with cancer has risen during the last decade. After the end of treatment those children and their families return to the community where another period of crisis unfolds. In this article, the findings of a larger qualitative study in Puerto Rico related to the return to the community of these patients and their families are discussed, including financial difficulties, the burden of responsibility, and transition to school. These findings provide a rationale for the implementation of a bio-psycho-social model of health that emphasizes reciprocal interactions among the multiple systems in which these families are embedded.

The pediatric cancer hospitalization experience: reality co-constructed.

Although pediatric cancer treatment has been reviewed by several authors, the lived experiences of children undergoing this process have seldom been discussed in the literature. The data for this article were obtained from a larger qualitative study that provided a collective view of the pediatric cancer experience at San Jorge Children's Hospital in Puerto Rico. In this article, findings that are directly related to the hospitalization process of these young patients are described, including the hospital as a safe haven, dealing with pain, taking control, and thriving in adversity. These findings provide a rationale for the development of a biopsychosocial model of health that emphasizes reciprocal interactions among the biological, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions that influence health.

Cultural aspects of the Puerto Rican cancer experience: the mother as the main protagonist.

Pediatric cancer survivors are a growing group whose needs extend to multiple contexts and systems. Most studies dealing with the emotional sequelae of childhood cancer have neglected patients' and parents' perspectives. Few have dealt with issues faced by the treatment team. Our research constitutes the first attempt to gather a collective view of such experience in Puerto Rico. Using a phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients, their mothers, and their oncology treatment team (18) at a children's hospital in Puerto Rico. Analysis followed the model proposed by Strauss and Corbin. In this article, findings directly associated with the cultural aspects of the Puerto Rican cancer experience are presented, including the mother's role--devotion and abandonment; the father's role--masculine vulnerability; and the family paradox. Mothers' protagonism was the central theme that emerged from these three categories.