Hu li za zhi The journal of nursing
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Alternative therapies are regimens that run counter to the mainstream of Western medicine. The main purpose of this study was to investigate and evaluate the alternative medicine with which parents of children with cancer seek to have their children treated. The research took as its subjects the parents of children with cancer who were outpatients or inpatients in six medical centers from September to December, 1999. ⋯ Other forms were used, such as herbal and arcanum therapy (13.2%), human electricity (3.9%), meditation (1.3%), and aromatherapy (1.3%). The results also showed that 61.8% of the parents had not discussed the use of the alternative therapies with the children's doctors. Hospital workers, therefore, should try to understand the situations of pediatric patients using alternative therapies, and provide appropriate suggestions to parents of pediatric patients as well as more humane, thoughtful medical care.