DHAMMA PRACTICE FOR REDUCING STRESS IN PATIENTS WHO OPTED FOR OPERATION IN INBURI HOSPITAL SING BURI PROVINCE

Abstract

This dissertation entitled ‘Dhamma practice for reducing stress in patients who opted for operation in Inburi hospital, Sing Buri Province’ has three objectives: 1) to study the ideas and methods for reducing stress in patients who opted for operation according to the principles of present medicine, 2) to study the ideas and methods for reducing stress in patients who opted for operation according to Buddhist principles, and 3) to propose the experimented results in applying Dhamma practice to reduce stress in patients who opted for operation. This research employed the quasi-experimental research methodology. The target populations were patients who had undergone surgery through the appointment made by doctors for staying one night at hospital before the beginning of operation, Inburi hospital, Sing Buri province. Fifty people gained from sampling were classified into two groups, experimental and controlling group in which twenty-five people join each group where, on the one hand, the controlling one allows regular visit, on the other hand, the experimental one applies Dhamma practice to reduce stress in patients who opted for operation through listening to five minutes chanting Manta and twenty minutes practicing mindfulness on breathing in addition to regular visit. The evaluation of such experimentation on applying Dhamma practice to reduce stress in patients who opted for operation was done by means of questionnaire for the evaluation of stress facing by both groups. After that the data analysis was made through the statistical program for the research of social sciences. It also used the descriptive statistics to provide general data of population where Standard Deviation of the average of the experimental and controlling groups was analyzed through T-test.

The research results clearly showed that:

In the ideas and methods for reducing stress in patients who had undergone surgery according to the present medical principles, it was found that the visit and evaluation of patients before undertaking surgery where anesthesia can be given become the important treatment: 1) the bodily and mental evaluation of any patient before surgery should be made by means of asking and finding the history of physical check-up and thereby admitting to the operative room, 2) the preparation of a patient before surgery should be done in order to smoothen more operation and safety through offering certain information to a patient and relatives whereby any doubt about the process could be got rid of, 3) a patient’s physical readiness should be prepared for operation through examining the states of a patient and if chronic diseases were found, then the specialized doctors should be consulted with, 4) food and water should not be given before surgery in order to prevent choking discarded food, 5) medicine should be made ready with operation, medicine for reducing stress, painkiller, for instance, and 6) before undertaking surgery the incurrent disease must be cured.