Objectives: This study investigates impacts of physical-psychosocial disequilibrium and coping mechanisms on depression among cancer patients seeking acupuncture. The research goals include: 1) identify predictors of depression among individuals with cancer, 2) explore cognitive-emotional-behavioral transactional process while coping with cancer, and 3) understand the motivation of seeking integrative care linking to cancer-related stress management. Methods: A mixed-methods study with an explanatory sequential design was applied. The research was conducted at an acupuncture and oriental medicine facility in Greater Houston in the U.S. The quantitative phase identified depression predictors among patients with cancer using data from medical records between 2017 and 2019. A phenomenological approach was applied in the interviews to explore coping experiences with cancer and motivation to seek acupuncture. Results: Logistic regression analysis revealed that levels of anxiety, perceived overall health, and current health status were a unique combination to predict depression among individuals with cancer. Coping consisting of cognition-emotion-behavior-belief adjustment was a non-stop process throughout the trajectory. The cognitive appraisal was a personal perception of illness-related stressors, which led to the stress being a challenge or threat. Reflections on lessons learned from the illness and making commitments to human beings decreased the risk of depression. The needs of holistic healthcare motivated individuals to seek acupuncture, which also boosted the function of the coping mechanism. Implications: Integrative oncology care should apply at the initial stage from a prevention perspective. Community-based integrative cancer care is needed to increase its accessibility. Guidelines for interprofessional cancer care should be developed in curriculums and clinical training. Healthcare insurance should consider embedding integrative care to enlarge benefits to respond to the need for holistic wellbeing. Future research is encouraged to conduct clinical trials collaborating with oriental medicine, neuroscience, and cognitive-behavior science to explore coping mechanism development while using specific acupuncture points to prevent depression.
Yu-Ju Huang, MSW, Ph.D. is a researcher at the Child and Family Center for Innovative Research at the University of Houston, leading this project. Her social work clinical experiences working with individuals with cancer in medical centers and community accumulated her research concentrations focusing on stress management, coping mechanism development, communication, mental health, and complementary and integrative care among individuals with cancer. In addition, her research is involved in social determinants of health and health disparities/inequities in immigrants and minorities to understand their challenges and advocate healthcare justice for underserved populations.
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