(Inter)mediation and support: core interdisciplinary purposes of social workers in oncology

Cancer is one of the greatest health challenges of our time. This study addresses the issue through the work of social workers in Portuguese hospital units and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide oncology care. We aim to understand the main roles assumed by social workers and the constraints they face in a context that demands constant interdisciplinarity and interinstitutional coordination. Data gathered from fieldwork, based on interviews and documentary research, show that the roles of social workers in oncology are quite diverse, designed to meet the complex challenges that cancer poses across multiple scales and social dimensions. This diversity of roles is oriented toward two major, intertwined, and interdisciplinary purposes: multivariate intermediation and psychosocial support for patients. The pursuit of these purposes is hindered by multiple structural obstacles that undermine the provision of accessible, adequate, comprehensive, and humanistic services, grounded in inalienable rights. Despite the significant constraints they encounter, social workers often (re)produce an understanding of their professional role that aligns with the normative and conceptual ideals of oncology social work, without fully examining the realities of daily practice in context or the dissonances between what they believe they should do and what they actually do.