Benjawan Poonthananiwatkul
Yala Provincial Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Public Health College, Thailand
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Altern Integr Med
Background: Arokhayasala is a Buddhist temple in Thailand that provides treatment for cancer patients using a combination of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) that includes reading, listening to, meditating and chanting of Dharma (holy books), adopting a vegetarian diet, practicing Thai Qi-gong (breathing exercises) and taking Thai herbal medicines. There is some evidence that Thai herbal medicines have anti-cancer properties on cancer cells in the laboratory but there is little evidence of their effect on patients. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes and experiences of cancer patients about their use of Thai herbal medicines and the combination of CAM treatments at Arokhayasala. Methods: Participants who were resident and receiving cancer treatment at Arokhayasala at the point of the study were purposively sampled for one-to-one semi-structured interviews. The participants were interviewed by BP at the temple. Results: 32 participants were interviewed. Three main themes were identified: 1. Attitudes towards taking herbal medicines: participants reported a positive attitude and believed that herbal medicines and the CAM treatments helped them cope with their cancer. 2. Effect on physical health: both improvement in physical health (n=27) such as relief of dyspepsia and pain and side effects (n=22) such as pain, nausea and vomiting were reported. Some participants experienced side effects only at the start of their treatment but later found their health to improve with time. 3. A change in perspective of/in life: participants reported they were more accepting of their diagnosis of cancer and condition and viewed life differently (n=24).
Email: be036@hotmail.com
Alternative & Integrative Medicine received 476 citations as per Google Scholar report
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