Anthroposophic health care in Sweden – A patient evaluation
Section snippets
Anthroposophy as inspiration for medicine
In the beginning of the 19th Century, Rudolf Steiner PhD (1861–1925) was active in Switzerland as a spiritual teacher, expounding his new thoughts on world, life, and man in a philosophy called anthroposophy. In his early work Intuitive thinking as a spiritual path – A philosophy of freedom,1 Steiner considered his basic thoughts on man’s ability to develop his own thinking to be an instrument for inner and spiritual observations and connections. Based on this work, Steiner developed a view of
Aim and research questions
The frame of reference is interdisciplinary with a caring science and communicative perspective. The study surveys and evaluates the use of anthroposophic medicine for patients in Östergötland county council in southeastern Sweden. The evaluation is conducted from the perspective of patients. Research questions are based on earlier studies12 and Eisenberg’s aspects on evaluations in CAM16:
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Who is the patient in anthroposophic care?
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What is reason for the choice?
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How does the patient get
Methods
The study follows all patients from Östergötland County who checked into the anthroposophic clinic for hospital care in 2006. As a baseline, the patients had to answer questionnaires – SF-36, LSQ, and F1 – when arriving to the clinic. At follow-up (after 1 month), SF-36, LSQ, and F2 were used. SF-36 and LSQ were also sent out after three and six months (Table 1).
Specifically drawn up for this study, the F1 questionnaire primarily includes the background information. Some of the questions are
Sample profile
The sample consisted of 48 women (91%) and five men (9%). Their average age was 54 years, range 31–74 years. Education levels among the patients were as follows: 42% college/university-educated; 49% secondary school-educated; and 9% primary school-educated. The patients’ primary occupation was given as follows: 18% employed, 18% retired, 52% on sick leave or receiving a subsidy for illness. One student and three participants selected the “other” alternative.
In the F1 questionnaire, the patients
Level of satisfaction with care: follow-up one month after treatment
The period during which patients were to receive treatment at the anthroposophic clinic was decided in advance on the basis of a medical evaluation performed by the clinic’s admitting physician. The average duration of stay was 14.4 days. Seven days was the shortest period of treatment and 21 days the longest.
Results from measurement using the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (LSQ)
A self-evaluation of the participating patients’ satisfaction with their life situation and health using the LSQ questionnaire21 was performed in line with the design of the study on four occasions: 1) on their arrival at the AC; 2) one month after the first measurement; 3) three months after the first measurement; and 4) six months after the first measurement.
The results have been processed to generate statistical data and are given as mean values for the entire group for each of the different
Results from measurement using SF-36
The health-related evaluation instrument SF-3620 is a questionnaire designed to measure physical and psychological health as reported by the patients themselves. According to the analysis manual, the 36 questions included can be divided into eight categories: Physical function (PF), Role limitations due to physical problems (RP), Bodily pain (BP), General health perceptions (GH), Vitality (VT), Social functioning (SF), Role limitations due to emotional problems (RE), and Mental health (MH).
Discussion
The anthroposophic clinic studied is primarily visited by middle-aged women with severe illnesses that are difficult to treat, such as cancer, fibromyalgia, pain, and burn-out. Patients sought anthroposophic care either as a result of recommendations from conventional healthcare providers (in almost half of all cases), recommendations from their family or friends, or as a result of previous experience of anthroposophy or anthroposophic care. The patients’ motivation for seeking anthroposophic
Author contribution
MA was responsible for the design of the study. Data collection was carried out by authors ASH and AK. The analysis of data was carried out in a team led by MA. The drafting of the manuscript was performed by MA.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the people in Vidarkliniken for their cooperation in this project. The project was funded with research grants from Östergötland County Council 2005.
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