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Drug therapy is the most widely used treatment for cancer treatment and cancer pain management, but these tend to be associated with adverse side effects. However, there is a growing interest both by patients and health professionals in utilising other, safer and more natural, forms of treatment. A study of 214 health care professionals carried out by the Department of Oncology, University of Western Ontario, Canada examined their familiarity with alternative and complementary forms of treatments for managing cancer pain. The strategies that the health care professionals were most familiar with were imaging, hypnotherapy and acupuncture (67%). Those that they were least familiar with were autogenic training, operant conditioning, and cognitive therapy. Other than radiation and surgery, the health care professionals most commonly recommended support groups (67%), imagery (54%), music or art therapy (49%) and meditation (43%) for managing cancer pain. All of the participants stated that they wanted to learn more about the complementary therapies, especially acupuncture, massage therapy, therapeutic touch, hypnosis, and biofeedback. The high level of interest expressed by health care professionals and patients for complementary therapies indicates that there is a need for more training and research to incorporate these therapies into mainstream medicine. Source: Health care
professionals' familiarity with non-pharmacological strategies for
managing cancer pain.
This page was last updated on 02 July 2005 00:00:00 |
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