A Study of CVA patients' Experience of the Illness

Nam, Sun Young

Abstract

This work was done for 9 patients having experience of a herb medical treatment after being diagnosed as CVA during a year from January, 1996 to December, 1996 by using an ethnographic research method. The summarized result of this research are following. I. The Experience of The Illness. First, the falling-ill phase is the time that they have the first stork of paralysis and the decision pattern of medical institution' comes out. The emotional experience in the period is something like 'frustration', 'anxiety', 'despair', and 'expectation'. Second, the active-treatment phase is the time that the patients as well as their family or care giver not only show the positive attitude and actively participate in the illness treatment but also show a lot of interest in medical institutions and activities of health recovery. There is a primary factor of the continuation of treatment as an experience of treatment and being crushed and sensitivity as an experience of the illness. Third, the rehabilitation phase is the time that the patients or their family become tired and insensitive to the treatment and recuperation, and then reduce the treatment activity. There is a primary in fluence factor of the discontinuance of treatment as an experience of treatment and physical experience and emotional experience as an experience as an experience of the illness. The physical experience is divided into 'personal-hygiene care', and 'the sphere of activity'. The emotional experiences are 'blaming someone', 'contempt' and 'despair' as a negative experience and 'hope' as a positive experience. II. Coping Strategy. There are a physical coping, an emotional and mental coping, a coping, a social coping, and a spiritual coping as a coping strategy used for the patients to overcome their illness and adjust themselves to their altered life. First, the physical coping comes out as 8 categories, 'using and auxiliary tool', 'doing exercise', 'protecting', 'improving their diet', 'taking care of something', 'using subsidiary medicines', 'trying a folk remedy', and 'having interest in their health'. Second, for the emotional and mental coping, there are 'accepting' and 'trying' as a positive coping and a failure of control as a negative coping. Third, the social coping is appeared as 'being supported'. Fourth, the spiritual coping is recognized as 'recourse to God' and 'preparation of death'. After all, the elderly CVA patients in a agricultural area choose the act of treatment based on the traditional belief and the relationship with a caretaker. A personal health can be maintained by taking care of themselves and controling their mind, and the overcome of the illness is decided on the basis of traditional concepts and cultural principles in which the patients as well as the family, neighbors and take care should work out together and cooperate with each other in order to achieve that.