CONTRIBUTORS TO
THE TOUCH, CARING AND CANCER PROGRAM

William Collinge, PhD, MPH is President of Collinge and Associates and directs the Touch, Caring and Cancer program. He is a practitioner in behavioral medicine and Principal Investigator of this and other NIH-sponsored projects in complementary therapies. He is also a scientific review consultant for government cancer research programs and has led retreats and workshops internationally.

Janet Kahn, PhD, NCTMB is Research Assistant Professor at the University of Vermont, College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and is Faculty Preceptor in the Fellowship Program in Complementary, Alternative and General Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is also Executive Director of the Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium. Dr. Kahn is a medical sociologist and a massage therapist.

Tracy Walton, MS, LMT, leads professional trainings in oncology massage* nationally. She was Co-Investigator on a National Cancer Institute-sponsored study of caregiver training and the effects of massage in metastatic cancer patients at the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. She also served as Academic Dean at the Muscular Therapy Institute in Watertown, Massachusetts and is a practicing massage therapist.

David Rosenthal, MD is a member of the medical staff of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and was the fi rst Director of its Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies. He is also Professor of Hematologic Oncology at Harvard Medical School and CEO of Harvard University Health Services. He is a former president of the American Cancer Society and of the Society for Integrative Oncology.

Susan Bauer-Wu, PhD, RN is Associate Professor of Nursing and Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar at Emory University in Atlanta. Previously she was Director of The Cantor Center for Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is an NIH-funded researcher known for her expertise in supportive therapies for cancer patients.

 

Patients and Their Partners
Eleven cancer patients and their care partners from the greater Boston area attended one of two workshops that were filmed to produce the DVD. The patients represented a diversity of types and stages of cancer. As explained in the film, all shared a common desire to contribute to the future well-being of others by sharing their own experiences.

Through their generosity it is hoped that many others will be inspired to follow in their footsteps. The types of relationships represented were (with the patient listed first):

Spouse or partner. John and Betty, Elizabeth and Bud, Mary and Harold, Richard and Batsheva, Florence and Wayne Andelina and Luis, Nancy and Francis and Lufon and Kwok.

Sisters. Carmen and Luz.

Mother and son. Gwen and Michael.

Father and daughter. Bing and Carol.

There are many other types of relationships beyond those depicted in the fi lm that can use and benefi t from the Touch, Caring and Cancer program. The principles taught may be applied in any relationship where there is mutual respect and caring.

Consultants
John Astin, PhD, Senior Scientist, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, California

Diane Brown, PhD, Professor of Public Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Executive Director, Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities, Newark, New Jersey

Karen Carroll, MSW, Independent Consultant, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Leila Kozak, PhD, Associate Health HSR&D Fellow, VA Health System Puget Sound, and Research Associate, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle

Ana Natale-Pereira, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Academic Medicine, Geriatrics and Community Programs, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey

Carolyn Snyder, Snyder Consulting, Derry, New Hampshire

Qingwen Xu, PhD, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Social Work, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts

DVD Production
Melissa Paly, Producer and Director, Cross Current Productions, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

William Rogers, Videographer and Editor, Coruway Film Institute, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

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*Oncology massage: The use of massage therapy techniques as a form of supportive or palliative care for the comfort of people with cancer.