ABSTRACT
Leukemia affects individuals of all age groups and is increasing a lot in the past few
years, mainly in a young portion of the population composed of children and
adolescents, which ranges from 1 to 19 years. Accordingly, preventive measures should
be implemented to reduce the increase of leukemic cancer in this population. One tool,
largely used to speed up the promotion of health education, with this public, is the use
of Digital Technologies of Communication and Information. This study was intended to
analyze the discourses of the young students on leukemic cancer, based on the
interaction existing in the “Em Sintonia com a Saúde” programs, conducted on the AJIR
Web Radio, through an intervention-research with a qualitative approach, which used
the Discourse Analysis for treating data. By analyzing the corpus, we took into account
the position of the young person when interacting in the “Em Sintonia com a Saúde”
program, considering the dialogues materialized in the language produced through the
digital channel. With the chosen method, we defined five thematic categories: 1)
Questionings of the young people about leukemic cancer; 2) Correlating health
education with the school environment; 3) Concerns of youths related to: Physical,
psychological and social consequences of leukemic cancer; 4) Strategies used to treat
and control leukemic cancer: “What do youths want to know?”; 5) Communication
produced on leukemic cancer in a Web Radio. Through their statements on the
knowledge of leukemic cancer, recorded on the Web Radio, we managed to investigate
the viewpoint of the young people about the issue in question, realizing that they do not
show restrictions to question the matter, since they make relevant questionings about the
disease, its symptomatology, treatment , healing and outcome. It has shown the interest
that youth has in relation to the topic of this study, thereby demonstrating the shortage
of information about leukemia. We also noted that the dialogue in the virtual
environment of the broadcaster overcomes barriers, thereby fostering the discussion
about the disease in a free and natural way, i.e., with a decreased burden of shyness or
difficulties to express the questionings. In light of the above, we realized that the “Em
Sintonia com a Saúde” program of the AJIR Web Radio, as an example of Digital
Technology of Communication and Information, has become an important tool by
providing a dialogic environment, thereby contributing to creating a flexibility of
critical thinking, as it provides a problematized and constructed learning about
leukemic cancer. Moreover, from the viewpoint of health education, the channel
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operates as a learning link, due to the way in which it places the young person as the
protagonist of their knowledge, as he has the possibility of choosing the guidelines that
will be part of the program, as well as outlining the information debated through its
problematizations. Thus, we conclude that the virtual interaction of the young people
with the channel of the AJIR Web Radio is significant, thereby enabling new
benchmarks for leukemic cancer. In the meantime, the “Em Sintonia com a Saúde”
program may be regarded as an aggregator of information about the proposed topic,
mediator of a youth that produces and shares knowledge about leukemic cancer.
Keywords: Leukemias. Youth. Information technology. Nursing.
