Abstract:
The purpose of this qualitative research was to describe the experience in health care practice of the elderly Buddhist monks. Including thre meaning of health, health care practice, and factors influencing health care practice. In-depth interviews and audiotape recordings were used in data collection from August 2005 to October 2006. Seven participants were interviewed. The descriptive statistics and content analysis method were used to analyze data.The results were follows:1. For the meaning of health, there were two meanings: (a) healthy or wellness was an absence of disease or illness, the balance of physical and mental health, and good practice (b) unhealthy was physical illness, mental illness, and the inbalance of physical and mental health.2. Health care practice consisted of two performances: (a) universal health care practice and (b) illness health care practice. In terms of universal health care practice, it consisted of effective health care practice that defined as appropriate eating, adequate drinking, adequate sleeping, exercise, avoidance risk factors, stress management, relationship with others, and health check up. In effective or inappropriate health care practice included inappropriate eating, smoking, coffee drinking, caffeine drinking, and a lack of health check up. In terms of illness health care practice, it consisted of (a) effective or appropriate health care practice that defined as conventional medicine, botanical, manual healing, meditation, drinking their urine, and other methods (b) ineffective or inappropriate health care practice including taking medicine by themselves, and coffee drinking. Factors influencing health care practice were (a) effective or positive factors and (b) ineffective factors or barrier. Positive factor included level of prior education, habit, prior occupation, athletic experience, family, knowledge seeking, role medel,changing behavior, vicarious experience, environment, health networks, care giver, and health service. Ineffective factor were prior occupation, limitation of monks' responsibility, friends, persons, and environment.The finding revealed an overall picture of the experience in health care practice of the elderly Buddhist monks. These will provide a basis information for health care providers to develop health promotion strategies for elderly monks in Thailand.