The objective was to analyze how mediation affects the experience of seeking care in case of illness due to the chronic condition caused by colorectal cancer. A comprehensive research approach was used through the Focal Life History, put in practice through an in-depth interview. The study subjects were a person and his family, who experienced illness due to this chronic condition, as well people from their healthcare network, considered as mediators, totaling six interviewed subjects. The mediators acted by facilitating the ill person's access to health assets and resources. The logic these mediators imprinted in the search for care differs from the logic of public health services, but they influence each other through the bonds of friendship that permeate mediators and public servants. Mediation was observed as something positive in the user's perspective, due to the dynamics it guarantees for care search networks.
Social networking; Family; Social support; Family relations; Health care