Positive Health Online

Abstract

STEINSBEKK and LAUNSO, Department of Public Health and General Practice, NTNU, Norway, aslak.steinsbekk@ntnu.no, have studied the experiences of cancer patients with complementary and alternative therapists and conventional physicians.

Background

The aim of the study was to describe how patients with cancer, who had consultations with both a conventional physician and a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioner, experience these consultations. The theoretical background of this study was inspired by a description of 2 models of principles of treatment. In the first model, the medical intervention is defined as the cause for the outcome. In the second model, the patient is defined as the causal factor; the outcomes of the treatment are dependent on the resources of the patient.

Methodology

Semistructured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 Norwegian cancer patients who had visited both a CAM practitioner and a physician. Methods of data analysis used were open coding, relational coding, and categorizing of themes.

Results

The cancer patients had experienced 2 different modes of consultations: one characterized by practitioners focusing on controlling the tumour; and another characterized by practitioners focusing on the patient. The patients' accounts of these 2 modes of consultation differed in terms of which issues were discussed during the consultation; who was in control of the consultation agenda; the patients' perceptions of the practitioners' health and disease understanding; the practitioners' communication skills; and how empowered the patient felt during the consultation.

Conclusion

Patients in this study asked for a consultation style that conveyed a focus on both the disease and the whole patient. The results of this study point to a possible connection between the practitioners' understanding of health and disease and the content and form of the consultations.

References

Steinsbekk A, Launso L. Empowering the cancer patient or controlling the tumor? A qualitative study of how cancer patients experience consultations with complementary and alternative medicine practitioners and physicians, respectively.. Integrative Cancer Therapies 4 (2): 195-200, June 2005.