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February 1, 2012
Dear Friends,
This begins our third year of offering the DVD program Touch, Caring and Cancer: Simple Instruction for Family and Friends. The past year has seen a steady rise in the number of workshops and training programs taking place across the US and in other countries. A great example of this is what is taking place at Clearview Cancer Institute, described below. There are many others, but what is happening at Clearview offers a glimpse of what can happen when inspired advocates from the nonprofit world, clinical oncology, and complementary therapies join forces on behalf of patients and their families.,
This past year has also seen a major development in the dissemination of Touch, Caring and Cancer as a solution to the needs of underserved and low income families facing cancer. With the generous sponsorship of the Lloyd Symington Foundation, we were able to give 300 copies to 81 different cancer treatment and advocacy organizations now using this as a resource to extend palliative care into the homes of patients and families who might not otherwise be able to access palliative care services.
Particularly exciting is the introduction of this training into under-resourced countries, such as Vietnam as described below. My hope is that this kind of family caregiver education will only continue to grow and be embraced by more and more organizations in building a culture of supportive and palliative care.
Sincerely,
William
William Collinge, PhD, MPH
Collinge and Associates
NEWS...
Model Program at Clearview Cancer Institute
Two oncology massage therapists working at Clearview Cancer Institute in Huntsville, Alabama, are leading what could be called a model family caregiver education initiative for other cancer centers. With funding from the Russell Hill Cancer Foundation, Judy Castrichini and Jeff Rich are offering of Touch, Caring and Cancer workshops four times per year. Each workshop is for ten patient families – which includes the patient plus up to two family members/caregivers per patient. Workshops last five hours, with lunch provided. The agenda includes showing the Safety Precautions material first, followed by practice while viewing and pausing the chapters of the DVD. Judy reports great success with the programs and a waiting list of other eager families. At the end each family receives a copy of Touch, Caring and Cancer to take home. A key part of this success has been that the doctors and board of directors of the institute have reviewed and approved the program. This fits perfectly within the mission of the Russell Hill Cancer Foundation, which is to improve the health of cancer patients in the region. The minimal overhead of the program has created a win-win situation for all parties. Great work, Judy and Jeff!
City of Hope Program
The City of Hope Department of Nursing Research and Education, Duarte, CA, received a grant from the National Cancer Institute to conduct a series of educational events for personnel from cancer centers nationwide, entitled “Improving Quality of Life and Quality of Care for Oncology Family Caregivers.” The program gives copies of Touch, Caring and Cancer to attendees at these events and has received consistent feedback that this is one of the most beneficial resources provided in the course. Next conference is July 11-13 in Anaheim.
National Cancer Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
Mishka Cira, LMT, NCTMB, is an American-trained massage therapist practicing at the National Cancer Hospital in Hanoi. She has been using the Touch, Caring and Cancer program there with families and staff to introduce simple methods of touch for comfort of cancer patients. We have together launched an effort to raise funds for William to travel to Hanoi and conduct a series of trainings for personnel in the Palliative Care Program in how to conduct workshops for family caregivers, aiming for later in 2012.
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November 7, 2011
Dear Friend,
A 55 year old woman recently treated for cancer has had lymph nodes removed from the left side of her neck. Her husband wants to offer her comfort through some simple massage techniques. She wants him to massage her face and scalp, but he wants to know what you would recommend. What would be your response?
After praising him for his initiative, you could turn to the manual that accompanies the DVD Touch, Caring and Cancer: Simple Instruction for Family and Friends and show them Figure 1. There they can see that he should avoid massage on the left side of her head and face, now vulnerable to lymphedema due to loss of the lymph nodes that served that side of her head. She can still enjoy the broad-spectrum benefits of relaxation by receiving massage elsewhere. (For more on lymphedema click and scroll).
Practical guidance, as shown in the above example (a true story), is what Touch, Caring and Cancer is all about. This is part of a new paradigm of caring in which people are empowered with the knowledge, skills and encourgement to be a healing presence in the lives of their loved ones. Thank you for being part of this vision!
Sincerely,
William
William Collinge, PhD, MPH
Collinge and Associates
NEWS...
White House Appointment for Janet Kahn
Janet Kahn, PhD, LMT, an instructor in the award-winning DVD program Touch, Caring and Cancer, has been named by President Obama for appointment to the administration’s Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. Janet is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Vermont’s College of Medicine, and helped found the Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium. (The White House has not commented publicly on whether her outstanding work in Touch, Caring and Cancer may have influenced her appointment.) Congratulations, Janet!
The Underserved Outreach Project
Funded by a grant from the Lloyd Symington Foundation, the Underserved Outreach Project provided copies of Touch, Caring and Cancer (TCC) in its multiple languages this year to cancer centers serving minority and low income families in the US. In the first six months over 500 families have been exposed to the instruction. We are thrilled with the feedback we have received, both from families and from social workers, nurses and massage therapists who are praising its use in support groups and caregiver education workshops. Here's one of the reports:
“In October, we had a certified massage therapist show a portion of the DVD, as well as give instruction to 6 couples. They were introduced to and practiced head & neck massage, as well as hand/arm and foot massage. All were then given the DVD to take home. They appreciated knowing what not to do and felt more secure in what they were doing, by trying it out in-person with a trained massage therapist. And also having the DVD to refer back to. The best outcome (as far as I am concerned) was that some acknowledged that touch had increased between the partners and at least one caregiver noted that he now felt he was doing more for his wife than just driving her to appointments.
“One person with cancer left the workshop and drove to a local free-standing hospice, where he provided touch to his sister-in-law, who died the next day. His wife/caregiver (sister of deceased) had NOT wanted to attend the training and had not slept in previous 2 nights, but stated that after receiving massage from her husband that morning, she was glad she had come because she felt so relaxed and centered.
"Three of these couples were under much stress that morning: one had just been diagnosed with a second type of cancer after 2 recurrences of original cancer; another had just received news of a recurrence of her cancer & the third was dealing with the dying family member….not typical in such a small group…but wonderful that they came anyway, in spite of or perhaps because of what they were dealing with. One single woman came alone. Her roommate was too ill to join her. Since the training she tells me she is doing self massage and sometimes has a friend provide touch, but that she finds the self massage very relaxing. This looks like a very worthwhile program that we should continue to provide for our clients and families.”
Scotland
We had a great time last June conducting two seminars for about 45 hospice personnel on how to use the TCC program for families with loved ones in hospice care. The seminars took place at Strathcarron Hospice in Denny, and included attendees from Ireland and Scotland. This door was opened by Gayle MacDonald, MS, LMT who conducts oncology massage trainings in that part of the world regularly (thanks, Gayle!).
Mission Reconnect
Can Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their loved ones learn massage and meditation practices together to help with the return home after deployment? William Collinge and Janet Kahn are currently directing a new research project sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health entitled "Mission Reconnect: Promoting Resilience and Reintegration of Post-Deployment Veterans and Their Families." Look for more on this in future issues of Partners in Healing News.
UPCOMING…
Society for Integrative Oncology
William Collinge and Susan Bauer-Wu will co-lead a workshop on “Mindfulness and Touch for Cancer Patients and Family and Professional Caregivers” at the Society for Integrative Oncology annual meeting in Cleveland, November 9-11, where he will also be on a panel discussing “Massage and Energy Therapy Research.”
USEFUL LINKS...
Previews of Touch, Caring and Cancer -- in English, Spanish and Chinese (to download previews to your computer for colleagues or to use in your programs email William for a special link)
Guide for Professionals -- free download to aid in program planning using TCC
TracyWalton.com -- trainings, publications and more related to massage for people with cancer with Tracy Walton, MS, LMT, instructor in theTCC program
Oncology Massage Education Associates -- trainings, publications and more
Society for Oncology Massage -- professional association of oncology massage therapists
Society for Integrative Oncology -- organization for multidisciplinary health care providers and researchers
Collinge and Associates -- research organization that developed TCC and conducts other NIH-sponsored projects
Email William Collinge -- for information on bulk discounts of TCC for your organization
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February 7, 2011
Dear Friends,
Announcing "The Underserved Outreach Project"
Supportive and palliative care is an area of great disparity in cancer care for low-income and minority families. The Lloyd Symington Foundation has partnered with Collinge and Associates to make available 300 copies of the family caregiver multimedia education program Touch, Caring and Cancer: Simple Instruction for Family and Friends to address this need. The materials will be given to cancer centers and organizations that serve low-income, minority and underserved populations, to help develop the untapped potential of family members to improve quality of life of their loved ones with cancer.
The target period for distribution of these programs is March 1-June 1, and early applications will receive priority consideration. The link below describes this effort and provides the application materials. If you are part of an organization that serves these groups, please check out the program announcement. And feel free to forward this info to anyone you think might appreciate the opportunity.
http://www.collinge.org/UnderservedOutreach.html
For ideas on how to use the program in caregiver support programs and workshops with your organization, download the Guide for Professionals here.
In other news, the Touch, Caring and Cancer program is making its first appearance in Peru and Bolivia this month via a University of Michigan medical resident, who is taking it there to explore doing research with family caregiving in those countries. The Spanish language version of the program is titled "Masaje Suave, Cuidados, y Cancer: Instrucciones Sencillas para Familiares y Amigos." A Spanish language preview is available at www.PartnersinHealing.net/dvd.htm. In case you didn't know, if you have the English version of the program you also have the Spanish and Chinese language tracks on you DVD (by using English subtitles, you can study one of those languages in your spare time!).
Paliativos sin Fronteras
A new international organization has been formed by a group of practitioners in Spain, called Paliativos sin Fronteras (Palliative Care Providers without Borders). Leila Kozak, PhD, post-doctoral fellow at the VA Puget Sound, who is using the Touch Caring and Cancer program in her research there, and I are the first two American members. We are looking forward to seeing this organization grow and spread the concept of family caregiver education far and wide. If you have any inspiration along these lines for how to support this, I would be happy to hear from you.
I wish you well for the coming SPRING!
Warm regards,
William
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September 12, 2010
Dear Friends,
It’s now been nine months since the launch of the Touch, Caring and Cancer program. In my travels to present the research about the program at professional conferences over the past several months, I’ve met many professionals who are eager to incorporate this new level of family involvement in comprehensive cancer care. The program is now being used in cancer centers, hospice programs, and other palliative care settings across the US, Canada, Australia and the UK.
I appreciate your involvement! My hope is that family caregivers everywhere will be supported in embracing this new form of caregiving—that this is the beginning of “a new culture of caregiving” in which lay people are empowered to use their own inherent healing abilities to help those they love.
IN THE NEWS
On September 10th KING TV, the NBC affiliate in Seattle, ran a story about massage in cancer featuring the Touch, Caring and Cancer program. This three minute story is surprisingly comprehensive with interviews of a cancer patient, an oncology massage therapist, myself, and scenes from the DVD program—a good piece given its brevity. Click here to watch, and please forward this to others who you would like to see introduced to this approach.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY!!
I have a funding source who is interested in funding the distribution of Touch, Caring and Cancer to minority and underserved families dealing with cancer. If you are connected with an organization that serves low income or minority families and would like to make this program available to them, please let me know as soon as possible. I will be compiling a list of organizations who would like to receive the program by September 23. Be sure and explain the mission of your organization, and specify what language(s) you would like (English, Spanish, or Chinese).
ETC.
A new Guide for Professionals is now available. It includes a film discussion guide for use in support groups and workshops, along with ideas for program planning and fundraising for making Touch, Caring and Cancer available. To download the new Guide click here.
Have a great autumn!
Best regards,
William