P03.16. Developing and Evaluating a Yoga Intervention for Cancer Patients: A Case Study

Focus Areas: Integrative Approaches to Care Meditation-based practices such as yoga are being increasingly developed as therapeutic modalities and incorporated into clinical, community, and even home-based settings, often aimed at augmenting mainstream medical treatments. Recent models of holistic healthcare acknowledge an emerging role of general practitioners referring clients to appropriate complementary therapies, particularly with acute or chronic conditions potentially benefitting from strategies for self-management. However, the impact of such therapies is not always documented or evaluated. Assessing the contributions of these efforts within a treatment program can therefore remain unclear. Naturally as a result, many therapists tend to remain outside the primary treatment plan and overall approach to any team-based care. It is therefore useful to examine how input from complementary therapies can be evaluated purposefully. This presentation will outline findings from a yoga program involving cancer patients and other individuals who have been referred by general practitioners in an attempt to alleviate symptoms and the associated stress from the illness. First, key components of the actual program will be discussed. Second, the presentation will describe a simple methodology (based on a phenomenological theoretical framework) that could be adapted by practitioners as part of their evaluation planning. The process of Most Significant Change is a narrative approach for capturing qualitative data whereby participants reflect on their involvement within a program and identify the personal, useful, and meaningful elements that arose at any given time. These elements highlight issues significant to the individual, often over and above what could be ascertained from considering only changes to biological markers, for example. Simple surveys rarely capture an individual's unique experience so completely, nor do they have the capacity. It is anticipated this presentation will aid therapists in investigating and reporting on health outcomes and ultimately contribute to evidence-based best practice.