Educational Program in Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Cancer Self-Help Groups

Jablotschkin, Martina; Bartsch, Hans Helge; Gschwendtner, Kathrin; Hauer, J; Horneber, Markus; Weis, Joachim

doi:10.1159/000504315

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…This study was part of the collaborative research project Competence Network of Complementary Medicine in Oncology (KOKON), which focused on CAM information and supportive programs for improving consulting skills for health care professionals and information about CAM in cancer patients [35,36]. In our study, we educated cancer SHG leaders about CAM in oncology based on a concept which we developed in a previous study [37]. As a result, we created a structured manual for the group leaders (GL) to facilitate them to educate the group participants (PT) in CAM.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Education about complementary and alternative medicine in cancer self-help groups by trained peers

Weis,

Jablotschkin,

Horneber

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Purpose: On average, about 40 % of cancer patients use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in addition to conventional oncological treatment. As there is a high need for information, patients search for information about CAM and share also experiences with peers especially in self-help groups. In this study, we tested and evaluated an educational concept for group leaders in cancer self-help groups how to approach the topic of CAM in their peer-groups. Methods: The concept has been developed and piloted with health care professionals and representatives of self-help organisations. It aims to inform and discuss CAM in terms of scientific evidence, its possibilities and limits, to reflect user behavior and to inform how to find and evaluate reliable and evidence-based information sources. First, self-help group leaders were educated in an on-site training including various CAM topics aimed to conduct this in their self-help groups. Then, the educated group leader performed this concept in their groups. The concept was evaluated at the level of participants and group leaders with respect to acceptance, usefulness and satisfaction. In a six months follow-up we interviewed the participants by questionnaire to what extent they used the recommended tools and had profited from the program. Results: A total of n=50 interested group leaders conducted the educational program in their groups. Most common implementation barriers were organizational or structural problems and the feeling of being overwhelmed to manage the program in their groups. A total of n= 423 participants in the group were educated with this program by their group leaders. The majority felt satisfied with the educational program and improved their knowledge about CAM. At the six months follow-up significant more participants consulted their physicians to inform themselves about CAM and felt more confident in finding reliable information about CAM. Conclusions: In this observational study we were able to implement an educational concept how to approach CAM in cancer self-help groups. Due to some results showing that a substantial percentage of group leaders felt overstrained with the concept we suggest to integrate a CAM professional in the education with the groups. For the future, the effects of the program should be tested by a randomized trial.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Education about complementary and alternative medicine in cancer self-help groups by trained peers

Weis,

Jablotschkin,

Horneber

et al. 2024

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…On the other hand, the role of cancer health literacy is inconclusive. While some studies showed that the patients with higher CAM use have signi cantly lower health literacy scores (Conrady & Bonney, 2017; Wilhelm & Euteneuer, 2021), others showed that they also can have more positive attitudes toward CAM because they tend to rely on rapidly available and unscienti c, easily found sources of information (Dişsiz & Yilmaz, 2016;Jablotschkin et al, 2020). Therefore, we will also examine the role of cancer health literacy for both groups of women and its association with CAM use and attitudes.…”

Section: Psychological Predictors Of Cam Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Thinking magically or thinking scientifically: Cognitive and belief predictors of complementary and alternative medicine use in women with and without cancer diagnosis

Čavojová

Kaššaiová

Šrol

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is popular among the general population and patients with various diseases, but our understanding of the predictors of CAM use for the population of women with or without cancer diagnosis is still quite limited. This paper examines predictors of attitudes toward and use of CAM, including cognitive factors (scientific reasoning, health literacy, locus of control), beliefs (holistic and magical health beliefs pseudoscientific beliefs, and trust in doctors), sociodemographic factors, and cancer diagnosis. Methods The sample consisted of 177 women (103, 58.2% without cancer, 74, 41.8% with cancer diagnosis; Mage = 38.81, SD = 11.43). Results Pseudoscientific/magical beliefs and external locus of control were the strongest predictors of positive attitudes toward CAM and its higher use, as well as preference for CAM instead of conventional treatment. Cancer diagnosis predicted only higher CAM use, but not more positive attitudes to CAM, nor preference for CAM instead of conventional medicine. There was no difference between women with and without cancer diagnosis in using CAM after we controlled for age and education. Women in our sample had a similar level of magical beliefs, holistic health beliefs, and attitudes toward CAM regardless of their cancer diagnosis. However, women with cancer had significantly more pseudoscientific beliefs than women without cancer and a higher external locus of control over their health. Conclusion Women who have an inclination toward holistic and magical beliefs about health tend to favor CAM treatments independently of the cancer diagnosis, although the diagnosis of cancer also contributes to their higher use of CAM. In other words, it seems improbable that women would turn toward CAM treatment only after being diagnosed with cancer.

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Thinking magically or thinking scientifically: Cognitive and belief predictors of complementary and alternative medicine use in women with and without cancer diagnosis

Čavojová,

Kaššaiová,

Šrol

et al. 2023

Curr Psychol

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This paper examines the predictors of belief in the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and its use, including cognitive factors (scientific reasoning, health literacy, locus of control), beliefs (holistic and magical health beliefs pseudoscientific beliefs, and trust in doctors), sociodemographic factors, and cancer diagnosis. The sample consisted of 177 women (41.8% with a cancer diagnosis; Mage = 38.81, SD = 11.43). Beliefs in efficacy and use of CAM were the main outcome measures; preference for CAM over conventional treatment was a secondary outcome measure. Pseudoscientific/magical beliefs and external locus of control were the strongest predictors of positive attitudes toward CAM and its higher use, as well as preference for CAM instead of conventional treatment. Cancer diagnosis predicted only higher CAM use, but not more positive attitudes to CAM, nor preference for CAM instead of conventional medicine. Women with cancer had significantly more pseudoscientific beliefs than women without cancer and had a higher external locus of control over their health. Women with pseudoscientific/magical beliefs favor CAM treatments independently of the cancer diagnosis, although the diagnosis of cancer also contributes to their higher use of CAM. In other words, it seems improbable that women would turn toward CAM treatment only after being diagnosed with cancer.

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Educational Program in Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Cancer Self-Help Groups

Cited by 4 publications

References 33 publications

Education about complementary and alternative medicine in cancer self-help groups by trained peers

Education about complementary and alternative medicine in cancer self-help groups by trained peers

Thinking magically or thinking scientifically: Cognitive and belief predictors of complementary and alternative medicine use in women with and without cancer diagnosis

Thinking magically or thinking scientifically: Cognitive and belief predictors of complementary and alternative medicine use in women with and without cancer diagnosis

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