Being in touch: narrative assessment of patients receiving online integrative oncology treatments during COVID-19.
Support Care Cancer
; 29(8): 4819-4825, 2021 Aug.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1064505
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
We examined the qualitative impact of an online integrative oncology (IO) treatment program, designed in response to the restrictions created by the current COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS:
Patients undergoing chemotherapy were seen by an integrative physician (IP), together co-designing an IO treatment program of ≥ 6 weekly treatments to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life (QoL). IO practitioners guided patients and their caregivers online in self-treatment with manual/touch, movement, and/or mind-body modalities. Narratives of both patients and IO practitioners were analyzed for systematic coding, identifying barriers and advantages of the online treatment program.RESULTS:
Narratives obtained from 30 patients and eight IO-trained practitioners were examined. The patients had undergone 169 online IO sessions with a total of 327 IO interventions during the 3-month study period. Patient narratives included reflections on both non-specific effects (e.g., less of a "sense of isolation") and specific QoL-related outcomes with the online intervention. IO practitioner narratives focused on barriers to providing manual-movement and mind-body modalities, suggesting practical recommendations on how to address specific QoL-related outcomes using the online IO "toolbox."CONCLUSIONS:
Effective online IO practitioner-guided treatments are feasible and may induce both specific and non-specific QoL-related effects. Future research needs to explore online IO interventions for additional situations in which access to IO care is limited.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Quality of Life
/
Integrative Oncology
/
Internet-Based Intervention
/
COVID-19
/
Neoplasms
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Qualitative research
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Topics:
Traditional medicine
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Pregnancy
Language:
English
Journal:
Support Care Cancer
Journal subject:
Neoplasms
/
Health Services
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S00520-021-06026-x
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