Hospitalization and music: meanings of families of children and adolescents with cancer

Abstract

Objective: to understand the meanings of the hospitalization process and the use of music as a health promoter, in the perception of family members of children and adolescents undergoing cancer treatment. Method: exploratory, descriptive research, with a qualitative approach, based on the assumptions of Health Promotion and Symbolic Interactionism, which had ten family members as participants. Data collection took place through semi-structured interviews and were analyzed according to content analysis. Results: Three categories emerged, in which family members present the meanings of hospitalization and its changes, music as a health promotion instrument, their experiences of improvement and quality of life provided by this tool. Conclusion: family members understood the hospitalization process as a mixture of feelings and sensations, highlighting music as a care technology that promotes well-being, joy, hope and that can be used in the hospital environment, in the oncology sector.