Hunsa Sethabouppha

The meaning of complementary therapy from the perspective of Thai women with breast cancer

Abstractxa0 A qualitative study based on Heideggerian phenomenology was conducted with 17 Thai women who had survived breast cancer and had utilized at least one type of complementary therapy. The study explored the meaning of such therapy and the data were collected by an in-depth interview, a demographic data-recording form, and a reflective journal. The data were analyzed by using an interpretative process that was described by Cohen, Kahn, and Steeves. Six themes were generated in relation to the meaning of complementary therapy as perceived by the participants: cancer-controlling treatment; mental strengthening; mind and body therapy; self-determination; natural therapy; and conventional therapy integration. The knowledge gained from this study will help health-care providers better understand the role that complementary therapies play in the lives of women whose lives are threatened by cancer. It is important for health-care providers to be more proactive in the culturally sensitive promotion of using complementary therapies based on the womens values and preferences.A qualitative study based on Heideggerian phenomenology was conducted with 17 Thai women who had survived breast cancer and had utilized at least one type of complementary therapy. The study explored the meaning of such therapy and the data were collected by an in-depth interview, a demographic data-recording form, and a reflective journal. The data were analyzed by using an interpretative process that was described by Cohen, Kahn, and Steeves. Six themes were generated in relation to the meaning of complementary therapy as perceived by the participants: cancer-controlling treatment; mental strengthening; mind and body therapy; self-determination; natural therapy; and conventional therapy integration. The knowledge gained from this study will help health-care providers better understand the role that complementary therapies play in the lives of women whose lives are threatened by cancer. It is important for health-care providers to be more proactive in the culturally sensitive promotion of using complementary therapies based on the womens values and preferences.

Development of a buddhist spiritual care model for people at the end of life

The delivery of spiritual care in Thailand is hampered by the absence of a model for health care providers that has contextual relevance within the country. Our aim is to develop a Buddhist Spiritual Care Model to guide health care providers in Thailand in the delivery of spiritual care practices for people at the end of life. The new Buddhist Spiritual Care Model builds upon the strength of existing Judeo-Christian theoretical models and extends those to a context where chaplains, for example, play no role in the care of hospital patients. To support Thai nurses in the delivery of Buddhist spiritual care, we have chosen to use 4 familiar steps from the nursing process (needs assessment, planning of actions, activities related to the plan, and effectiveness of activities). This is a thinking structure familiar enough to understand through which health care providers can be encouraged to begin to see themselves delivering spiritual care for people at the end of life and their family members. This theoretical model is conceptualized to allow health care providers to implement spiritual care within the normative environments in Thailand, regardless of their own spiritual affiliations and without relying on a specialist spiritual provider.