RESUMEN
This study uses focus group methodology to examine supportive and unsupportive responses experienced by African American and Caucasian cancer patients. Supportive responses included practical assistance, as well as people's willingness to listen, maintain a positive attitude, and pray. Unsupportive responses included others' withdrawal behaviors, patients having to support friends/family as they coped, and family/friends limiting patients' independence. Results reflect ways in which mental health providers, social workers, and health care providers can help patients express support needs, as well as how social networks can be better educated about the types of support valued by patients.
Asunto(s)
Negro o Afroamericano/psicología , Neoplasias/psicología , Apoyo Social , Población Blanca/psicología , Adulto , Actitud , Relaciones Familiares , Femenino , Grupos Focales , Vivienda , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Neoplasias/etnología , Aislamiento Social , EspiritualidadRESUMEN
Over the past three decades more than 200 children have died in the U.S. of treatable illnesses as a result of their parents relying on spiritual healing rather than conventional medical treatment. Thirty-nine states have laws that protect parents from criminal prosecution when their children die as a result of not receiving medical care. As physicians and citizens, we must choose between protecting the welfare of children and maintaining respect for the rights of parents to practice the religion of their choice and to make important decisions for their children. In order to make and defend such choices, it is essential that we as health care professionals understand the history and background of such practices and the legal aspects of previous cases, as well as formulate an ethical construct by which to begin a dialogue with the religious communities and others who share similar beliefs about spiritual healing. In this paper, we provide a framework for these requirements.