This research aimed to examine health problems of HIV/AIDS patients in hospitals in Songkhla province, the complementary methods of healing used in HIV/AIDS patients, and the results of using the complementary methods. A sample of 80 HIV/AIDS patients in this survey was purposively selected from 13 hospitals in Songkhla province. Data were collected from July to October 2004 by employing questionnaires eliciting data on the health problems of the HIV/AIDS patients and any complementary methods used in the treatment of the patients. The instruments were examined for content validity by 5 experts. The reliability of the complementary methods healing questionnaire was assessed by test-retest methods with a resulting correlation coefficient of 0.86. The data were analyzed using percentage and mean.
The findings were as follows:
The three most common physical health problems were weariness and fatigue (40.0%), which the patients healed by exercising with a good outcome, while those who lost their appetite (40.0%) took dietary supplements as their remedy with either a good outcome or no effect. The three most common psychosocial health problems were feeling stress (21.1%), anxiety (21.1%) and alienation (25.0%), and the three most common spiritual health problems were hopelessness (21.3%), selfworthlessness (22.4%) and aimlessness (20.0%). The patients healed themselves of the psychosocial problems and spiritual problems by practising meditation, with the outcome of purifying the mind.
The research found that, besides the treatment by a medical doctor, the HIV/AIDS patients used complementary methods of treatment. Health care personnel, therefore, have to understand health problems and promote the use of complementary healing methods for effective treatment.