J Korean Acad Nurs JKAN Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing 2005-3673 2093-758X Korean Society of Nursing Science 10.4040/jkan.2014.44.6.639 Original Article Life Experiences of Korean Patients with Hansen's Disease in Sorok Island Hospital Yang Ya Ki Department of Nursing, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Korea. Address reprint requests to: Yang, Ya Ki. Department of Nursing, Wonkwang University, 460 Iksan-daero, Iksan 570-749, Korea. Tel: +82-63-850-6019, Fax: +82-63-850-6060, ykyang@wku.ac.kr 12 2014 31 12 2014 44 6 639 648 05 08 2014 21 08 2014 02 10 2014 © 2014 Korean Society of Nursing Science 2014 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivs License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/) If the original work is properly cited and retained without any modification or reproduction, it can be used and re-distributed in any format and medium. Purpose

The purpose of this study was to identify life experiences of Korean patients with Hansen's disease (leprosy).

 Methods

For this study, 5 participants from Sorok Island Hospital were purposively chosen. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews from June to July 2014. Data analysis method was based on Colaizzi's approach.

 Results

The study results showed that experiences of patients with Hansen's disease consisted of 14 themes and six theme clusters: 1) Bad disease approaching as fate; 2) Family breakup and far from the village; 3) New life in Sorok Island Hospital; 4) Treatment of Hansen's disease and disability; 5) Life in the disease community; 6) Comfort and hope of life.

 Conclusion

The findings of this study indicate that health care professionals should pay attention to patients with Hansen's disease not only to reduce their physical and psychological suffering, but also to help the community and public culture to reduce the social stigma surrounding this disease and causing suffering for the patients. The results of the present study can help us to have a better understanding of various aspects of patients' lived experiences.

 Hansen's disease Leprosy Life experiences Infection Phenomenography Korean Society of Nursing Science

This study was supported by the Research Grant of the Korean Society of Nursing Science in 2012.

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Life Experiences of Patients with Hansen's Disease