Health education and self-care actions as determinants for cancer prevention and control

Abstract

Objective: identifying the scientific literature on health education and self-care actions such as prevention and cancer control strategy. Method: an integrative review of the literature using the Lilacs and Scielo data for the period 2003 to 2013. Results: after analyzing the 22 articles selected, four thematic categories emerged: health education as a means of cancer prevention, self-care practices in cancer prevention, education campaigns about cancer and knowledge of cancer prevention. Conclusion: the number of new cases of cancer increased significantly due to the longer life expectancy of the population and also due to the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in their formation, making it important to the action of the nurse as an educator in the prevention and control of disease through guidelines about self-care actions.