Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #118490

Adriaan Visser, PhD¹, Jeske Bogaard, Student¹, Martine Busch, MA², and Michel Wysmans, MA³. (1) Center for Psycho-oncology, Helen Dowling Institute, P.O. Box 85061, 3508 AB, Utrecht, Netherlands, 31-30-2524020, adriaan.visser@planet.nl, (2) Van Praag Institute, Springweg 7, 3511 VH, Utrecht, Netherlands, (3) Maia Foundation, Westersingel 21, 3014 GP, Rotterdam, Netherlands

There is growing interest in the Dutch health care for complementary and alternative medicine CAM). During the last 15 years the use among cancer patients increased from 15% to 30%. Nurses are often informally introducing CAM. This is leading to an uncontrolled proliferation of short-term and not successful projects. In a survey, the number and type of Dutch CAM projects was studied as well as the factors influencing the successful implementation, based on the preced/preceed and the ASE model (attitudes/knowledge, perceived social support and efficacy). Using the addresses of participants in several Dutch national conferences on CAM, 48 different CAM projects were identified. The most often applied CAM forms are: massage (61%), therapeutic touch (50%), aromatherapy, music therapy (24%), reflexology (20%), and phytotherapy (11%). The CAM projects were introduced by nurses (63%), nursing auxiliaries (28%) in nursing homes (25%), hospitals (27%), and primary health care (19%). A multiple constructed score on successful implementation shows that 23% of the projects have a low score, 30% a medium score, and 47% a high successful implementation score. Multiple regression analyses indicate that the success of implementation is mainly influenced by the perceived available financial support (Â= .56) and the perceived positive attitudes of directly involved staff members (B=.42. It is concluded that mainly enabling, structural factors are influencing the successful implementation of CAM and not the predisposing and reinforcing factors. The successful introduction of CAM in the Dutch health care requires more financial means and positive attitudes of involved health care managers.

Learning Objectives:

• Implementation of CAM is an important area of research to promote CAM in health care
• Knowledge and attitude of nurses are not influencing the successful introduction of CAM, but structural factors (lack of financial means and negative expectations of staff member

Keywords: Alternative Medicine/Therapies, Cancer

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.