Sammanfattning
Supplementary medicine not only offers a hope of restoration to health, it also influences the way patient experiences quality of life. The article throws into relief four areas in which supplementary treatment has particular significance for the patient: The encounter, confidence, mastering and the miracle.
We have interviewed nine individuals who use alternative treatment as a supplement to palliative treatment in the established system.
The survey shows that the use of supplementary treatment is of great importance to the interviewees experienced quality of life in areas such as attendance, confidence and being met as an individual. Supplementary treatment allows them to take responsibility for the situation and thus advance from powerlessness to control. Supplementary treatment also sustains the hope of an ultimate miracle: A cure; but also the hope of lesser miracles in the form of relieved symptoms and improvements to mental or family circumstances.
The survey shows that the role of the nurse in relation to the patients use of supplementary treatment is that of a respectful partner in dialogue who listens to what the patient has to tell, with the focus on the significance the treatment has for the patient.