Beyond Treatment: Cancer Survival and Daily Life Among Women with Breast Cancer: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study in La Araucanía, Chile

Breast cancer constitutes one of the oncological diagnoses with the greatest impact on women’s lives, with consequences that extend beyond active treatment into a survivorship period marked by profound transformations in identity, relationships, and well-being. This study aimed to explore the impacts that breast cancer produces on the everyday lives of survivor women in the municipality of Villarrica, La Araucanía Region. A qualitative methodology with a phenomenological orientation was employed, based on discourse analysis of three focus groups with 20 female breast cancer survivors between 35 and 70 years old. The analysis identified five categories: impact on everyday life and work, management of uncertainty and fear, transformation of self-care and life priorities, support networks and community, and barriers to accessing the healthcare system. The findings demonstrate the coexistence of posttraumatic growth and persistent psychological distress, together with structural inequities that limit access to comprehensive care during the survivorship period. It is concluded that cancer survivorship demands public policy responses that are continuous, multilevel, and integrative of a gender perspective, articulating individual, family, and community interventions from primary healthcare.