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ABSTRACT
Because increasing numbers of cancer patients are seeking a more holistic approach to care, medical professionals need to integrate the best of conventional and complementary approaches to treatment. Why patients are seeking new approaches, which complementary therapies should be used, what the aims of these therapies should be, who should provide them, and who should pay for them are questions that are open to debate. Although these questions need to be addressed, patients are not waiting for the debate on the efficacy and scientific rigor of these therapies to be resolved. Instead, they are searching for every possible way to benefit from a variety of alternatives. Thus, the realities of contemporary cancer care require oncology professionals to determine which forms of complementary medicine are at least neutral rather than harmful and, when possible, determine which are beneficial. By identifying interventions that are safe and effective, practitioners will be better prepared to respond to their patients' questions about additional therapies while encouraging a collaborative approach that incorporates conventional treatments and complementary therapies.
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Notes on contributors
Michael Seago
Mr. Seago is National Associate Director, Clinical Outcomes, Staff Builders Home Health Company, 11511 Katy Freeway, Suite 320, Houston, TX 77079. (Address correspondence to Mr. Seago.) An earlier version of the article was delivered during “Supportive Care ′95,” the 14th annual conference on psychosocial oncology sponsored by The Don and Sybil Harrington Cancer Center, Amarillo, TX, April 1995.
Carolina Conn
Ms. Conn is Vice President, Clinical Outcomes, Staff Builders Home Health Company, 11511 Katy Freeway, Suite 320, Houston, TX 77079. An earlier version of the article was delivered during “Supportive Care ′95,” the 14th annual conference on psychosocial oncology sponsored by The Don and Sybil Harrington Cancer Center, Amarillo, TX, April 1995.