另類療法指的是正統醫療方式以外，未有足夠證據證實其安全性及療效的治療方式。由於兒童在醫療過程屬虞弱勢者，因此往往由決定者決定病童的治療方式。由本研究的結果發現：(1)兒童癌症病患採取的另類療法種類包括生機飲食、宗教儀式、中草藥。(2)兒童病患家屬使用另類療法的原因包括：盡一切可能救孩子、增加免疫系統、治癒癌症等。(3)決定是否採用另類療法的主要決策者為兒童的父母親，其次則是他們的其他親人。(4)病童家屬獲得另類療法的訊息來源主要來自新聞媒體報導與媒體。 Alternative therapies indicated that the treatments which are apart from the traditional medicines and lack sufficient evidences to prove their safety and efficiency. Children’s opinions are always ignored during the medical process. Therefore the aims of this research are to explore the factors which affect the use of alternative therapies.
The findings include: 1. the alternative therapies that the pediatric oncology patients adopted include: healthy diets, religious rituals, and Chinese herbs. 2. The reasons for adoption are: to save the children, to increase their immune system. 3. The main decision makers are their parents. 4. The information resources mainly come from news reports and media.
