Partners in Healing

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January 17, 2013

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to report that the journal Supportive Care in Cancer has just published our NCI-sponsored study, "Touch, Caring and Cancer: randomized controlled trial of a multimedia caregiver education program." The article is available free online and may be downloaded now as a PDF if you wish (click here). This is an important study in evidence-based caregiver education that gives full details of how the study, that saw caregivers deliver significant relief for loved ones with cancer at home, was conducted.

Another development is that our project with Mishka Cira, LMT, NCTMB, using the Vietnamese language version of the program at the National Cancer Hospital in Hanoi, will be presented at two upcoming conferences -- the Oncology Massage Healing Summit in Minneapolis in April (poster presentation), and the Massage Therapy Research Foundation conference in Boston, also in April (oral presentation).

What is most exciting is that the Vietnamese family members were able to obtain similar results as their American counterparts in reducing patients' pain, stress, depression, fatigue, nausea by using the instruction. I would be delighted to meet you at one of these opportunities, or brainstorm about this work by phone at any time.

Sincerely,

William Collinge, PhD, MPH

AN INSPIRATION FOR 2013...

Diedra Eshcoff, CMT, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, a new champion of caregiver education, writes: "I was honored to take my first class The Gentle Application of Massage for Cancer Patients with Tracy Walton. Then I took two more webinar series with Tracy with the last one describing how we can teach massage to caregivers of cancer patients using the instructional DVD with manual, Touch, Caring and Cancer. I recently opened my own office and have been a member of three networking groups as a way to get the word out about my passion for caring for others through massage. Part of the passion is working with those who have been touched with cancer. Anyone who endures so much pain and suffering through cancer treatments just to live deserves to have this gift as a way to help them along their journey holding the hands of their caregivers.

"Over the last 6 months I have been raising money so that I can teach this program to caregivers for FREE and give them the Touch, Caring and Cancer DVD and Manual for FREE as well. I presented to my networking groups the idea, showing them the introduction to the DVD. I cut ribbons of many colors that stand for the various cancers and asked for a minimal donation of $1 for each ribbon. I also created necklaces ($15 for one or $25 for two) and sold them as a fundraiser for the project as a way to raise money. My Goal is $5000 and so far I have been able to raised nearly $1500. One day I want to establish a 501 3c or find a fiscal sponsor to support my efforts to reach as many people as I can. In 2013 want to teach this program to at least 50 couples."

While Diedra is a massage therapist, there are also oncology social workers, nurses, and people of other disciplines now contributing to this work. I believe that caregiver education knows no bounds of discipline, and in fact benefits greatly from co-leadership by champions from multiple disciplines, as they each have special skills and competencies to offer. More about this in a future newsletter...

Your News Invited

If you have a story you would like to share with others about empowerment of caregivers with instruction in touch and related methods, please feel free to send it to me for consideration for this newsletter. Just write to william@collinge.org.

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July 18, 2012

Dear Friends,

Good news -- our project using Touch, Caring and Cancer at the National Cancer Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam has finished data collection and results will be available soon. I look forward to sharing them with you in the next newsletter. This project was led by Mishka Cira, LMT, NCTMB with collaboration from Dr. Yen and staff of the Palliative Care Department. The project trained palliative care staff in how to train family members, using a new Vietnamese language version of the program. Funding was provided by the Muscular Therapy Institute Foundation and Astra Zeneca, for which we are very grateful.

As a result of the instruction family members have been seen in patient rooms at the hospital using safe and simple massage techniques with loved ones in their beds.

It's looking more and more like familiy caregiver education of this kind is an excellent way to overcome disparities in palliative care for low income, minority, and underserved cancer populations. If you work in a setting with Vietnamese family members, contact me to see about accessing this language version. (Other versions available include Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese). I welcome your ideas for new projects and new adventures extending caregiver education wherever needed.

Mishka, by the way, has moved on to a new chapter in Nairobi, Kenya, where we hope to continue building bridges to support palliative care in underserved populations. More on that in a future newsletter.

Yours truly,

William Collinge, PhD, MPH

OTHER NEWS...

NCI CAM News features Touch, Caring and Cancer
The NCI CAM News (Spring 2012 issue), from the NCI's Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM), featured an article on the Touch, Caring and Cancer program in its Research Highlights section. The article summarizes the research and also makes note of the project taking place at the National Cancer Hospital in Hanoi. Click to read the article.

Hospital TV Networks = Golden Opportunity for Caregiver Instruction
Cancer patients and their loved ones can now receive the Touch, Caring and Cancer instruction over the hospital room TV during visits or in the infusion room while receiving chemotherapy. Watching the program together, caregivers learn to provide comfort care right there in the patient's bed or easy chair. Imagine the difference in the quality of caring and connection when learning to use safe and effective touch together, compared to just sitting and watching mindless TV!
To have Touch, Caring and Cancer available on your institution's in-house TV network, contact William at collinge.org.

Tracy Walton CE Webinar on Teaching Massage to Caregivers
Tracy Walton, MS, LMT, one of the instructors in the Touch, Caring and Cancer program DVD, has created a webinar entitled "Teaching Massage to Caregivers: The Touch, Caring and Cancer Program." The webinar is available on demand at the link below. In this session Tracy discusses the award-winning DVD home instruction program, and shares exciting findings from our NCI-sponsored clinical trial that compared professional massage and massage by caregivers using home instruction.

From the description: Care partners of people with cancer report feeling helpless, uncertain, and afraid to touch their loved ones. People with cancer tell us they suffer stigma, poor body image, and a yearning for healing touch. By teaching caregivers simple techniques to use at home, massage therapists can help ease this painful experience. Attendees to the webinar will learn:
How providing instruction in simple massage techniques to caregivers could help with symptom relief for people with cancer.
Important differences between caregiver massage instruction and professional oncology massage practice.
The value of massage therapists as touch educators as well as skilled touch providers.
You will leave this webinar with an inspired view of massage therapy in cancer care and a new appreciation of the benefits of touch.
For more information click here.

Your News Invited
If you have a story you would like to share with others about empowerment of caregivers with instruction in touch and related methods, please feel free to send it to me for consideration for this newsletter. Just write to william at collinge.org.

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May 4, 2012

In our last issue of this newsletter we announced the initiative taking place in Vietnam to use the Touch, Caring and Cancer program at the National Cancer Hospital in Hanoi, and other hospitals in that country. I am pleased to announce that the Muscular Therapy Institute Foundation has given a grant to Collinge and Associates to fund a research study of the project. In addition, Astra Zeneca Pharmaceutical Company has funded the translation and recording of the Vietnamese language audio track for the DVD, as well as printing the manual. 1,000 copies have been produced for use there.

This project was initiated by Mishka Cira, LMT, NCTMB, who has opened doors and championed the program as a potential new resource for families in under-resourced countries dealing with cancer. She will be leading the research effort there, and I will be providing consultation over Skype for the project. We hope to have data on outcomes from a sample of Vietnamese families later this summer, so stay tuned.

Yours truly,

William Collinge, PhD, MPH

Tracy Walton Webinar on the Touch, Caring and Cancer Program

Tracy Walton, MS, LMT, one of the instructors in the Touch, Caring and Cancer program DVD, will be conducting a continuing education webinar for massage therapists on the program, on Thursday May 17. This is the sixth webinar in the More about Cancer Care and Massage Series. In this session Tracy will discuss the award-winning DVD home instruction program, and share exciting findings from our NCI-sponsored clinical trial that compared professional massage and massage by caregivers using home instruction.

From the description: Care partners of people with cancer report feeling helpless, uncertain, and afraid to touch their loved ones. People with cancer tell us they suffer stigma, poor body image, and a yearning for healing touch. By teaching caregivers simple techniques to use at home, massage therapists can help ease this painful experience.

Attendees to the webinar will learn:

How providing instruction in simple massage techniques to caregivers could help with symptom relief for people with cancer
Important differences between caregiver massage instruction and professional oncology massage practice
The value of massage therapists as touch educators as well as skilled touch providers
You will leave this webinar with an inspired view of massage therapy in cancer care and a new appreciation of the benefits of touch.
For more information click here.

Spotlight: Progressive Health Center, Englewood, Colorado

Progressive Health Center in Englewood, Colorado, provides a menu of complementary therapy services to patients at Swedish Hospital next door. Through their Cancer Care Initiative, Progressive Health Center has recently funded a grant request by Susan Wong, CMT, to provide advanced training of massage staff in oncology massage, and also to sponsor a Touch, Caring and Cancer workshop for caregivers, including the distribution of copies of the DVD program to attendees. According to Susan, “I didn’t know how to write a proposal,” but she did anyway, and successfully. Congratulations, Susan!

This is another example of how massage therapists and others can see their inspiration rewarded when they take initiative to advocate for innovative programs. There are many private funding sources, like Cancer Care Initiative, that have as part of their mission the funding of programs to benefit quality of life of local cancer patients. If you would like to explore ideas about how to approach funding sources, see the Touch, Caring and Cancer Guide for Professionals.

New Journal Article in Seminars in Oncology Nursing

William Collinge, Gayle MacDonald and Tracy Walton co-authored a new article entitled Massage in Supportive Cancer Care in the journal Seminars in Oncology Nursing. The article gives an overview for oncology nurses on the history, theory, controversies and contributions of massage in supportive care. The complete reference is: Collinge W, MacDonald G, Walton T. Massage in supportive cancer care. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 2012;28(1):45-54. To see the abstract, click here.

Your News Invited

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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/tcc.html. 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

NEWSLETTER