Phenwan Tharin, Peerawong Thanarpan, Tulathamkij Kandawsri
Department of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand.
School of Nursing and Health Science, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
Indian J Palliat Care. 2019 Jan-Mar;25(1):119-123. doi: 10.4103/IJPC.IJPC_101_18.
Spirituality is the essence of a human being. Patients who have good spiritual well-being (SWB) will also have better quality of life. However, health-care providers usually under-assess this aspect due to lack of practical guideline. In Thailand, the validated survey came from a different cultural background and was heavily based on Buddhism approach.
The aim of the study is to assess the meaning of spirituality and SWB in Thai breast cancer patients in Southern Thailand where people have more diverse cultural and religious background.
Descriptive qualitative phenomenology design.
In-depth interview with stratified purposive sampling method. The interviews took place in the oncology outpatient unit department and participants' home. Inclusion criteria were being diagnosed with breast cancer, age over 18 years old, able to communicate in Thai, has a Palliative Performance Scale more than 50, and was not diagnosed with any psychological disorder.
Descriptive statistic.
From October 2016 to February 2018, 16 women joined the study. Three themes emerged with five subthemes: (1) feeling life worthwhile, (2) sense of belonging in the community, and (3) feeling connected to the nature.
For Thai women, who have breast cancer, their spirituality focuses on family, mainly their children. They also have better SWB if they have good family relationship, social support, or feeling connected with nature or higher being in a religious or nonreligious way. Future survey design needs to be broader in a secular view and on another perspective rather than the religious approach.
精神性是人类的本质。拥有良好精神健康（SWB）的患者也会有更高的生活质量。然而，由于缺乏实用指南，医疗保健提供者通常对这方面评估不足。在泰国，经过验证的调查来自不同的文化背景，且严重基于佛教方法。
本研究的目的是评估泰国南部乳腺癌患者的精神性和SWB的意义，该地区人们的文化和宗教背景更加多样化。
描述性定性现象学设计。
采用分层目的抽样法进行深入访谈。访谈在肿瘤门诊部门和参与者家中进行。纳入标准为被诊断患有乳腺癌、年龄超过18岁、能够用泰语交流、姑息表现量表得分超过50，且未被诊断患有任何心理障碍。
描述性统计。
2016年10月至2018年2月，16名女性参与了该研究。出现了三个主题及五个子主题：（1）觉得生活有价值，（2）社区归属感，（3）与自然的联系感。
对于患有乳腺癌的泰国女性来说，她们的精神性主要集中在家庭，尤其是孩子身上。如果她们有良好的家庭关系、社会支持，或者以宗教或非宗教的方式与自然或更高存在有联系，她们也会有更好的SWB。未来的调查设计需要从世俗视角和另一个角度更广泛地进行，而不是采用宗教方法。
