1523P Mindfulness and Buddhist practices among Buddhist cancer patients

Cancer patients need not only physical and mental but also spiritual care according to their beliefs and custom. In Thailand where the majority of the people are Theravada Buddhists, the understanding of the religious practice to achieve inner peace is important for improving the care for cancer patients. This study is aimed to explore the Buddhist practices that cancer patients use to achieve their inner peace. This study started with in-depth interviews with Buddhist cancer patients selected based on the maximum variation sampling methods (male vs female and early vs late stage). The data was summarized and discussed with seven Buddhist experts. Seven Buddhist cancer patients (4 female and 3 male), age between 42-69 years old, at various treatment stages were included in this study. The types of cancer were lymphoma, breast, colon, cervical, renal, and prostate. All patients had ECOG score <2 and had no severe distress based on the ESAS or apparent depression. In Buddhism, practicing mindfulness is a way of life. Being aware of bodies, feelings, mental formations and perceptions at any moment, patients can stop being dispersed and be ready to begin to looking deeply. Upon cancer diagnosis and during cancer treatment, the Buddhist cancer patients using Buddhist ‘threefold training’ practices—mindfulness, concentration, and looking deeply as core—to help them be calm and achieve inner peace by understanding the true nature of life that people cannot escape being sick and dying. They were mindfully aware of the situations that they are facing. The practices also included cultivating loving kindness, chanting, and meditation to cultivate concentrations. All of the patients intensified their Buddhist practices after getting a cancer diagnosis. Early and late-stage cancer patients expressed similar anxiety and fear facing cancer. Female patients have practiced Buddhism more formally than male counterparts. Buddhist cancer patients see sickness and death as natural human trajectory, calm themselves down, be at peace, accept the reality of being sick and dying, and let go. Buddhist mindfulness practices were common and successful in terms of achieving their inner peace. An understanding of this could help improve spiritual care for Buddhist cancer patients.