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February 7, 2000 Return to the Cancerlynx Index |
The Cancer Supportive Care Program
Ernest H. Rosenbaum, M.D.
Editor's note: The Cancer Supportive Care Programs are implemented at Stanford and beginning in March 2000 at Kaiser San Francisco.
For more information go to the Cancer Supportive Care Web Site
http://www.cancersupportivecare.com
One in every three Americans will develop cancer or have a relative with cancer in their lifetime.
We are fighting the disease with collaborative programs that link the latest research findings with the most advanced patient care. Breakthroughs in our understanding of cancer are providing new therapies to treat the disease and improve quality of life.
For survival and healthy living, cancer patients need more that the standard treatments of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Total supportive care complements these standard cancer treatments by addressing the patient's physical and emotional needs to help improve survival chances, and reduce the toxicity of treatment.
The mission of the Cancer Supportive Care Program for Total Patient Care is to provide mutlidisciplinary information and services for cancer patients and their families/friends.
This program could serve as a national model for community-based cancer care centers, private oncology practices, universities, and hospital oncology programs, demonstrating how they can utilized existing resources.
Program curricula, videos, and implementation tools are free to any persons or institutions that may be interested in starting a similar program for their patients.
The Cancer Supportive Care Program presents an innovative concept by including the patient as an active participant together with a team of physicians, nurses, physical therapists, clergy, social workers' counselors, and the patient's family and friends.
The team approach offers the best form of therapy due to its inclusive and multidisciplinary nature that focuses on mind and body support. The team approach empowers the patient and family/friends by giving them the opportunity to select support services to meet their needs and hasten rehabilitation and recovery.
Only when patients take responsibility for their state of mind, nutritional status and physical fitness can their needs be fully expressed, assessed, and fulfilled. The act of taking responsibility is in itself an important factor in promoting patient self-esteem, independence, and ability to cope with illness. It can make the difference between continued good health or illness and chronic disability. Empowering the patient is a crucial part of getting well, surviving longer and living a more fulfilling life.
When a person is given a diagnosis of cancer or experiences a progression of his/her disease, the various treatments and side effects can be overwhelming. Many patients find it devastating to cope and often become desperate and depressed. Patients often do not know what to do next and can experience treatment as a dehumanizing process as they grapple with therapeutic alternatives, six-syllable drug names, and treatment schedules.
The patient's anxieties and fears of the probability of a potentially fatal outcome complicate the treatment process. Many of these fears are often fed by the patient's beliefs in the myths of cancer rather than by knowledge of the facts. Patient education on various topics related to cancer helps to relieve this stress.
The Cancer Supportive Care Program (CSCP) is based on the premise that all patients could benefit by having comprehensive information about every aspect of the disease. With this in mind, the CSCP has developed an introductory four-part lecture series of supportive care lectures, workshops and educational modules to address problems and subjects related to disease and therapy.
This four-part lecture series is repeated every 2-3 months for newly diagnosed patients, families/friends or for patients who wish to review them. The introductory four-part lecture series also provides a way to assess the needs and topics of interest to the patient. Feedback from lectures will determine the focus of the weekly lecture series and workshops.
- Presents an overview of how the patient can learn about services and utilize materials to cope with the physical, emotional and treatment process of living with cancer
- Addresses the psychosocial needs, emphasizing attitude and the will to live as well as ways of coping with depression and cancer-related issues.
- Teaches patients about the importance of the supportive strategies involving nutrition, exercise and ways to cope with fatigue, anemia, sleep and pain
- Explains therapeutic issues of pharmacological toxicity, radiation therapy chemotherapy and better ways of coping with side effects.
To promote the general welfare of cancer patients and their families, individually scheduled lectures and discussion meetings occur on a weekly basis. This also provides a way for the medical team to continually assess patient needs and to develop additional timely supportive advice. The patient has an opportunity to ask questions, receive professional support, and learn ways to help themselves.
In addition to lectures, patients will be encouraged to participate in weekly workshops such as exercise, fatigue or support groups. Workshops will provide more practical hands-on teaching about topics like:
- Regular exercise classes
- Nutritional hints for coping with fatigue, nausea, and other therapy side effects
- How to control pain, administer self-injection, and optimal use of drugs
- Coping with anxiety and depression
- Exercises in mindfulness meditation
- Art and healing
- Behavioral treatment of insomnia
- Advice on "End of Life" care
Internet video programs, books and literature are also available from the Complementary Medicine Clinic library for patients to expand their education on various cancer topics.
Read
Establishing a Cancer Supportive Care Program
For more information go to the Cancer Supportive Care Web Site
http://www.cancersupportivecare.com
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