Freedom of choice: an issue concerning alternate therapies chosen by patients with cancer.
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TL;DR
This paper discusses alternate therapies in light of two recent ethnographic studies that examined the alternate-care beliefs and practices chosen by hospital patients in Canadian prairie cities.
Abstract
Patients with cancer who choose alternate therapies often use limited sources of information from lay literature to influence their therapy decisions. The biomedical assessment of these alternate therapies usually is not made available to patients in the lay literature; therefore, patients' true freedom of choice must be questioned. This paper discusses alternate therapies in light of two recent ethnographic studies that examined the alternate-care beliefs and practices chosen by hospital patients in Canadian prairie cities. The alternate cancer therapies that patients have chosen are presented along with the biomedical perspective of these therapies. The patients' own descriptions of their searches for cures are included, and implications for nursing are provided.