Learning experiences of breast cancer survivors practising Quolin Qigong

The purpose of this study was to explore the learning experience embedded in breast cancer survivors through the adoption and maintenance of Guolin Qigong exercise. The study was guided by the following research questions: (1) why did the selected breast cancer survivors adopt Guolin Qigong? (2) how did learning occur among the selected breast cancer survivors? (3) what influenced the selected breast cancer survivors to engage in long term maintenance in Guolin Qigong and lastly (4) what are the learning outcomes gained from practising Guolin Qigong? A qualitative approach was carried out and 22 participants of breast cancer survivors from the Malaysia Guolin Qigong Association of five regions in Malaysia namely Central region, South region, East region, Upper north region and North region were interviewed. The participants were selected using purposive and snowball sampling techniques based on the following criteria: (1) adult female breast cancer survivors known to have adopted Guolin Qigong for more than six months; (2) capable and willing to share their experience in long term maintenance of Guolin Qigong (3) English, Malay or Chinese speaking participants. The primary data collection technique used in this qualitative study was in-depth interview. The interviews were taped and conducted in a mixture of languages - English, Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese. The taped interviews were transcribed verbatim for both English, Bahasa Malaysia, and Chinese by language expert. Ethical issues were addressed and the credibility of this study was ensured through prolonged engagement, member checks and peer examination. The findings indicated that the reasons for adopting Guolin Qigong exercise were: (i) the need to survive; (ii) the belief in Qigong; (iii) gained support from spouse and family members and (4) Qigong is an adaptable form of exercise. It was found that their learning process began from their cancer experience which led them to locate information for survivorship. To ensure that they gained the benefits from practising Guolin Qigong, they learned the exercise by active participation. They improved exercise performance by learning and understanding their body through daily practice. The feeling of discomfort and pain during practice signalled either the overdoing of an exercise or insufficient rest in between exercises. Most of these women related that they gained the physical benefits, psychosocial gains and spiritual shift through the reinforcement of feedback given by the master and practises. Three conclusions were drawn from this study. First, one has to develop selfdetermination, perseverance and a positive belief towards this exercise. Second, the best learning experience comes through learning by doing; learning and understanding one’s own body and through receiving positive learning experiences. Thirdly, the learning experiences from exercise need to have elements of enjoyment. The present findings suggest the relative contributions of exercise adoption, the importance of the learning process and the factors that enhance the maintenance of the exercise program. This could be effectively targeted to promote exercise behaviour among sedentary breast cancer patients and survivors and to reduce exercise dropout rates among cancer patients and survivors.

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