Abstract
Purpose : Recently, cancer has become a chronic disease that requires supervision because of early diagnosis and the development of therapeutic technology. As a result, cancer patients are interested in improving the quality of their lives besides the treatment of cancer itself. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a qualitative research to understand the vivid experiences of cancer patients and structure their treatment experience. Among qualitative researches, grounded theory is developed based on the data collected in the field. The grounded theory research method is easy to analyze for the process and structure of the treatment experience. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide basic data on the integrated medical experience of cancer patients Methods : Participants were conveniently selected, and the criteria for selection were for those who had more than 1 month of hospitalization so that they could dictate their situation and experience in a meaningful manner. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and continued until the data were saturated through theoretical sensitivity and continuous comparison methods. The collected data were analyzed through the process of open-coding, axial coding, and selection coding, which are the research methods of grounded theory. Results : Cancer patients differ in their path, purpose, and attitudes depending on their respective situations and the internal and external resources of individuals. There is also a difference in the perception of their situation among the cancer patients and their families. Cancer patients were shown to recognize and cope with problems in the integrated medical treatment process, and have been classified into 6 different types after the results. Cancer patients showed positive changes in terms of physical, emotional, and lifestyle after their integrated medical treatment. Cancer patients perceived the integrated medical treatment process as a horizontal relationship structure and with diversity. Conclusions : The experience of integrated medical treatment of cancer patients is a process of rehabilitation that heals the body and restores life within the interaction of support system, contextual situation, and internal resources of the individual. Despite this, there is a need not only for the efforts of integrated medical service providers but also institutional support in the future with regards to the current weaknesses and points for improvement. In addition, there is a need for an objective criterion to measure the outcome of integrated medicine for the standardization of integrated medical services.