The emotional universe of women affected by hepatitis C: A hermeneutic approach

Understanding the emotional universe of women from Cordoba affected by hepatitis C.

Hermeneutic qualitative study. Participants met the criteria of being adult women with a current diagnosis of hepatitis C and belonging to the Plataforma de Afectad@s por la Hepatitis C of Cordoba. The intentional sampling was nominated and followed a criterion of intensity. Data collection was conducted through in-depth interviews. The analysis took place in 3levels: Explanation, naïve understanding and in-depth understanding. In the second level, the metaphor universe of emotions was incorporated, which is a taxonomy that organizes emotions into clusters of galaxies to facilitate understanding of affective phenomena.

Four participants were included. Seven themes roam the galaxies in the emotional universe of women. «Damned disease» explores their disgust, sadness and shame. «Intimate affections» focuses on happiness and love as well as sadness. «Friendship-platform» focuses on understanding, welfare and affection. «Physicians» deal with distrust and disappointment regarding new treatment, and with «curing» sadness, fear, anxiety and hope. «State of ill-being» focuses on anxiety. And «universal access now» explores anger.

Despite the presence of love in the complex emotional universe of women with hepatitis C, anger, sadness and anxiety are highlighted. Hermeneutics of their emotions facilitates nursing care and nursing research humanization.