Author Interviews, Lifestyle & Health, Nutrition, UCSF / 09.12.2015
Many Hospitalized Oncology Patients Would Like Complementary Health Treatments
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Maria T. Chao, DrPH, MPA
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Osher Center for Integrative Medicine
& Division of General Internal Medicine - SFGH
UCSF
San Francisco, CA 94143-1726
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Chao: Many Americans use complementary and integrative health (CIH) approaches to help them manage the symptoms of chronic diseases. To date, most of these treatments are only available in outpatient clinics. In this study, we asked oncology inpatients which of 12 different CIH approaches they currently use or have tried in the past, and also which approaches they would like to be available in the hospital. We found that 95% of patients had tried at least one complementary and integrative health approach in the past, and that a similarly high number were interested in accessing these services as an inpatient. More than three quarters of our sample expressed interest in receiving nutritional counseling and massage during their hospital stay, and approximately half were interested in acupuncture, biofeedback, and mindfulness meditation.
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