Group Interventions for Women with Breast Cancer: Challenges and Possibilities

Abstract This study aimed to analyze the national and international scientific literature on the topic of psychosocial rehabilitation groups for women with breast cancer. The literature review was conducted from LILACS, PubMed, PsycINFO and CINAHL database. 28 articles published in the period 2000-2015, which constituted the corpus of the study, were selected. The results showed that, in most cases, support groups bring psychosocial benefits, stress reduction, increased and quality of life, mood enhancement and sharing information about different options of treatment available for breast cancer. We conclude that participating in support groups is associated with better psychological outcomes, however, there is no evidence to support an increase in life expectancy of women.