An Innovative Tai Chi and Qigong Telehealth Service in Supportive Cancer Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Byeongsang Oh; Diana Van Der Saag; Morita Morgia; Susan Carroll; Frances Boyle; Michael Back; Gillian Lamoury

doi:10.1177/1559827620983762

An Innovative Tai Chi and Qigong Telehealth Service in Supportive Cancer Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Am J Lifestyle Med. 2020 Dec 24;15(4):475-477. doi: 10.1177/1559827620983762. eCollection 2021 Jul-Aug.

Authors

Byeongsang Oh¹, Diana Van Der Saag¹, Morita Morgia¹, Susan Carroll¹, Frances Boyle², Michael Back¹, Gillian Lamoury¹

Affiliations

¹ GenesisCare, Mater Hospital, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
² Patricia Ritchie Centre for Cancer Care, Mater Hospital, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Abstract

Supportive cancer care services, including acupuncture and Tai Chi and Qigong (TQ), are offered to cancer patients to manage cancer symptoms and/or treatment-related adverse effects and improve quality of life during and after standard care. Normal face-to-face acupuncture and TQ group services were suspended during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to reduce the risk of transmission of infection and meet social distancing restriction guidelines. This led to a sudden shift from face-to-face sessions to telehealth sessions in the health care system. We report patients' experiences of TQ telehealth services as a new initiative developed for cancer care. We found that delivery of TQ telehealth is feasible and resulted in increased overall patient satisfaction with cancer care services during the lockdown. The delivery of TQ telehealth experiences and challenges are discussed.

Keywords: Qigong; Tai Chi; cancer; supportive care; telehealth.