Subjective Illness Experiences of Open-heart Surgery Patients in the Thai Cultural Context

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Keywords:
medical technology subjective illness experience open-heart surgery culture

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Kingkeaw Kwankhao
Department of Society and Health, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University, Thailand
Pimpawan Boonmongkol
Department of Society and Health, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University, Thailand
Kanokwan Tharawan
Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Thailand
Penchan Sherer
Department of Society and Health, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University, Thailand

Abstract

This qualitative case study investigates the illness experiences of patients who underwent open-heart surgery in the Thai cultural context. The study site was a central hospital in the Eastern region of Thailand. Data were primarily collected by narrative interviews with seven patients who had open-heart surgery under varied circumstances. Narrative analysis was used to analyze the data. The key findings are: 1) the subjective illness experiences of the patients before and during the open-heart surgery includes being on the edge between life and death, feeling like coming back from death, and attributing their surgery to misfortune; 2) the subjective illness experiences of the patients following the open-heart surgery includes increasing dependence on medical technology and feeling like a cyborg, a non-human or an animal. The patients’ subjective illness experiences reflect their perspectives on medical technology in open-heart surgery. The findings could contribute to medical personnel’s more holistic understanding of the lives of patients from scientific as well as cultural viewpoints and to the improvement of the mental and emotional health care for open-heart surgery patients.

Article Details

How to Cite
Kwankhao, K., Boonmongkol, P., Tharawan, K., & Sherer, P. (2016). Subjective Illness Experiences of Open-heart Surgery Patients in the Thai Cultural Context. Journal of Population and Social Studies [JPSS], 21(2), S–74. Retrieved from https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jpss/article/view/71943
Issue
Vol. 21 No. 2 (2013): July - December [Supplement]
Section
Research Articles
Author Biography

Kingkeaw Kwankhao, Department of Society and Health, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University, Thailand

Corresponding author

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