Date of Award

11-13-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MSc in Nursing

First Advisor

Dr Salma Rattani

Second Advisor

Ms. Salima Shams

Third Advisor

Ms. Farida Bibi Mughal

Department

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: According to the World Health Organization, cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020, or nearly one in six deaths. The Global Cancer Incidence, Mortality, and Prevalence (GLOBOCAN) in 2020, which is an International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR), estimated 19.3 million new cancer cases globally, in 2020, with over 10.0 million cancer deaths.
/="/">Aim: To investigate why cancer patients and their families prefer traditional, spiritual, folk, and religious healer practices over medical treatment, and to explore the various traditional, spiritual, folk, and religious healing practices used to treat oncological disorders.
/="/">Methodology: A qualitative descriptive study design was used to study the perceptions, knowledge, and practices of patients with cancer diagnoses, their family members, and traditional, spiritual, religious, and folk healers. Patients’ and their family members’ preferences for using the services of traditional, spiritual, religious, and folk healers for the treatment of oncological disorders were also studied. A semi-structured, open-ended interview guide was used to collect the data. The participants were patients diagnosed with cancer (n= 4), family members (n= 4), and the healers (n= 4) providing care to these patients. In total, there were twelve participants, four from each group. The duration for each interview ranged between 20-40 minutes and the total duration of all these interviews was 420 minutes. Data collection and analysis were conducted simultaneously process.
/="/">Results: Themes emerged from Data were: factors influencing decision making for the healing practices were resources, such as unavailability of healthcare facilities within the vicinity, distances and limited finances, fear related to a new diagnosis, and cultural influence, including spiritual and religious factors. Furthermore, the types of practices performed by the patients and used by healers were to treat oncological disorders were found to be religious, spiritual, traditional, and folk healing practices.
/="/">Conclusion: The conclusion of this study is that people prefer religious, spiritual, traditional, and folk healing practices for oncological disorders for multiple reasons, like cultural belief, lack of resources, inaccessibility of healthcare facilities, and lack of awareness. People use various healing practices that they believe can aid in healing, but this is due to their unawareness. And there are other many factors lead to a delay in cancer diagnosis, until it is too late to save their lives. However, religious, and spiritual practices can help in enhancing the quality of life when an individual is in a challenging health condition.

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Last Page

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