title: Who accesses complementary therapies and why?: An evaluation of a cancer care service.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment have resulted in longer survival, meaning patients are living with a chronic-type condition. Therefore the needs of such patients have changed placing greater emphasis on survivorship, such as impact on quality of life and sleep patterns. Evidence suggests complementary therapies positively impact not only on the cancer patient's quality of life but also on family members and friends.
  
  
  METHODS
  This service evaluation examines self-reported benefits following a course of complementary therapy offered by a local cancer charity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analysis of self-reported sleep scores and perceived quality of life experiences confirmed a number of trends relating to the demographics of people accessing the complementary therapy service.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest the complementary therapies provided by Action Cancer significantly improved clients' quality of life. Based on these findings the authors make a number of recommendations in relation to the use of complementary therapies by cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen's University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, N. Ireland BT9 7BL, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen's University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, N. Ireland BT9 7BL, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Glackin
authors.affiliation: Action Cancer, Action Cancer House, 1 Marlborough Park, Belfast, N. Ireland BT9 6XS, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen's University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, N. Ireland BT9 7BL, UK. Electronic address: k.rogers@qub.ac.uk.
authors.forename: K M A
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Rogers
mesh_terms: D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life
keywords: Cancer; Complementary therapies; Quality of life; Sleep