Dealing with Cancer is Crazy Enough; Attending a Support Group Shouldn’t Be!
Experience Mind-Body Medicine From The Comfort of Your Own Home
According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), distress is common to almost every patient because of many stressors associated with different stages of cancer and oncological treatment (Psychosocial Distress, 2012).
Interestingly enough, only a small number of distressed patients receive the support needed to address their distress (Kadan-Lottick, Vanderwerker, Block, Zhang, & Prigerson, 2005).
For a moment let us consider health disparities. What exactly is the definition of health disparities?
NCI’s Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD, 2012) Website has some of them listed. I give a short excerpt here:
In general, health disparities are defined as significant differences between one population and another. The Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act of 2000, which authorizes several HHS programs, describes these disparities as differences in “the overall rate of disease incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality or survival rates.” There are several factors that contribute to health disparities. Many different populations are affected by disparities including racial and ethnic minorities, residents of rural areas [emphasis added], women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities (CRCHD, 2012).
Consider this map of Michigan, my state of residence. The dark red colors indicate higher cancer mortality rates per capita, than the lighter shaded reds/whites. You can go to the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Mortality Maps Site (National Cancer Institute, n.d.) to generate a map based on information you input yourself.
The compounding implications of not addressing the neglect mentioned by Kadan-Lottick et al. (2005) and inability to access services because of a cancer patient’s geographic location present several problems. The neglected distress in cancer patients can lead to amplified pain, increased desire for hastened death, increased disability, impaired ability to participate in the end of life planning, and diminished psychosocial functioning of caregivers (Kadan-Lottick et al., 2005).
Thus, it is imperative that oncological providers address the utilization of services that address distress, potentially improving clinical outcomes (Kadan-Lottick et al., 2005).
This goes hand in hand with research by Wise, Han, Shaw, McTavish, & Gustafson, (2008) who conclude “As patients increasingly use the web for cancer information, clinicians should provide lists of high quality resources that provide both narrative and didactic instruction” (p. 1).
An Online MBM Cancer Support Group can not possibly address all health disparities. The “Digital Divide” is hampering many American’s to go online for basic cancer information (Cancer Control and Population Sciences, 2011).
Nonetheless, Online MBM Cancer Support Groups are a start to alleviate some health disparities and remove some hurdles of access to care, such as eliminating the geographic restriction. Prospective participants can even participate in the Online MBM Cancer Support Group via latest version iPhones or Androids.
To reiterate: An MBM Online Skills Cancer Support Group addresses the following domains:
The Narrative Domain: a participant interacts with other participants through listening and sharing of personal experiences
The Didactic Domain: each group session includes a mini review of the evidence behind a certain mind-body medicine modality
The Experiential Domain: each group session entails the learning of a mind-body medicine modality. Participants are given the tools to implement mind-body medicine in their daily routine right away.
If your life is impacted by cancer, either as a patient, a loved one/caretaker of a cancer patient or if you are a practitioner providing services to cancer patients and would like to participate in an upcoming Mind-Body Medicine Online Cancer Support Group please request more information by completing the contact information below:
Thank you for visiting my website.
Werner Absenger
M.Sc. Human Nutrition
Ph.D. Candidate at Saybrook University’s School of Mind-Body Medicine, Research Track
Stick to Principles. Find a Passion. Start a Revolution
(Kuhlmann Arkadi, 2011).
References:
Cancer Control and Population Sciences (2011). Digital divide resources. Retrieved from http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/cancer_resources-digdivide.html
Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD). (2012, January 26). Health Disparities Defined. Retrieved June 18, 2012, from http://crchd.cancer.gov/about/defined.html
Kadan-Lottick, N. S., Vanderwerker, L. C., Block, S. D., Zhang, B., & Prigerson, H. G. (2005). Psychiatric disorders and mental health service use in patients with advanced cancer. Cancer, 104(12), 2872–2881. doi:10.1002/cncr.21532
National Cancer Insitute (NCI). (n.d.). Cancer Mortality Maps and Graphs. Retrieved June 18, 2012, from http://ratecalc.cancer.gov/
Psychosocial Distress. (2012, February 17). Retrieved from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/supportivecare/adjustment/HealthProfessional/page3#Section_91
Wise, M., Han, J. Y., Shaw, B., McTavish, F., & Gustafson, D. H. (2008). Effects of using online narrative and didactic information on healthcare participation for breast cancer patients. Patient Educ Couns., 70(3), 348–356.