Struthers Roxanne, Eschiti Valerie S
University of Minnesota School of Nursing, Minneapolis 55455, USA.
Integr Cancer Ther. 2004 Mar;3(1):13-23. doi: 10.1177/1534735403261833.
Indigenous traditional healing is an ancient, deeply rooted, complex holistic health care system practiced by indigenous people worldwide. However, scant information exists to explain the phenomenon of indigenous medicine and indigenous health. Even less is known about how indigenous healing takes place. The purpose of this study is to describe the meaning and essence of the lived experience of 4 indigenous people who have been diagnosed with cancer and have used indigenous traditional healing during their healing journey. The researcher used a qualitative phenomenological methodology to collect and analyze interview data. Interviews were conducted with 4 self-identified indigenous people, ages 49 to 61, from diverse tribes. Time since cancer diagnosis varied from 2 to 20 years; types of cancer included lung, prostate, sarcoma of the leg, and breast. Four themes and 2 subthemes emerged (1) receiving the cancer diagnosis (with subthemes of knowing something was wrong and hearing something was wrong), (2) seeking healing, (3) connecting to indigenous culture, and (4) contemplating life's future. This study demonstrates that 4 individuals with cancer integrated Western medicine and traditional healing to treat their cancer. This knowledge provides necessary data about the phenomena of being healed by indigenous healers. Such data may serve as an initial guide for health care professionals while interacting with indigenous people diagnosed with cancer. Accordingly, traditional healing may be used to decrease health disparities.
本土传统疗法是一种古老、根基深厚且复杂的整体医疗保健体系，为世界各地的原住民所采用。然而，关于本土医学和本土健康现象的解释却非常有限。对于本土疗法的实施方式更是知之甚少。本研究的目的是描述4位被诊断患有癌症且在治疗过程中采用本土传统疗法的原住民的生活经历的意义和本质。研究者采用质性现象学方法来收集和分析访谈数据。对4位自认为是原住民、年龄在49至61岁之间、来自不同部落的人进行了访谈。自癌症确诊后的时间从2年到20年不等；癌症类型包括肺癌、前列腺癌、腿部肉瘤和乳腺癌。出现了四个主题和两个子主题：（1）收到癌症诊断（子主题为知道有些不对劲和听到有些不对劲），（2）寻求治疗，（3）与本土文化建立联系，（4）思考生命的未来。本研究表明，4位癌症患者将西医和传统疗法结合起来治疗他们的癌症。这些知识提供了关于被本土治疗师治愈这一现象的必要数据。这些数据在医疗保健专业人员与被诊断患有癌症的原住民互动时可作为初步指导。因此，传统疗法可用于减少健康差距。
