…Things like stress, anxiety, fatigue, and depression.*
(with the help of a $23,971 Susan G. Komen Michigan grant).
Coming April 1, 2016: A FREE Breast Cancer Survivorship Program for West Michigan. Click the image to contact ACEF about our FREE Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship Program
*Not all clients may experience these results. Your results may vary. Research indicates that a typical client may expect overall improved quality of life.
Awesome News for Breast Cancer Survivors in West Michigan
I am thrilled to announce today that the Absenger Cancer Education Foundation’s (ACEF) grant proposal of $23,971 for the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program was approved by Susan G. Komen Michigan.
Komen Michigan is a “gap filling” organization, that has identified three funding priorities for the 2016-2017 grant cycle.
The Absenger Cancer Education Foundation (ACEF) grant application focused on Komen Michigan’s third funding priority: Survivorship programs for the West Michigan service area.
Jennifer Jurgens, Executive Director of Komen Michigan and I discussed programs, funding, research, donations, pink-washing and more in the podcast below. Have a listen to learn more about how much money finds its way into Muskegon County through Komen Michigan fundraising activities.
If you enjoy ACEF’s content, please make a donation now by clicking the “Shopping Cart ‘Buy’ Button” in the image above to make a tax deductible donation to ACEF. Feel free to share content freely. Thank you for your support.
What does Komen Michigan do?
Komen Michigan assists with screening access, culturally proper education, and community navigation, and survivorship programs such as the Absenger Cancer Education Foundation’s (ACEF) Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program.
The Absenger Cancer Education Foundation (ACEF) Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program will give access to modalities that “…focus on social and emotional wellbeing, wellness programs, and lifestyle intervention strategies” (Komen Michigan, 2015a, p. 4).
What is the Target Population Served by ACEF’s Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship Program?
To offer a culturally competent Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program, ACEF’s target populations are White and Black breast cancer survivors, up to 74 years of age, living with or without metastatic disease, mostly from low-income households.
In Komen Michigan’s West Michigan service area, demographics show that 95.4 per 100,000 women were in cancer survivorship for each year between 2006-2010.
Thus, a high number of survivors may find themselves with unmet psychosocial needs (Butler, Koopman, Classen, & Spiegel, 1999) in Muskegon County.
Additionally, newly diagnosed breast cancer survivors, who will find themselves in the continuing phase of care, can expect a 32% increase in the cost of treatment over the coming decade. Thus, survivorship and the continuing phase of care are a significant driver of healthcare costs (de Moor et al., 2013).
According to de Moor et al. (2013), women with breast cancer account for 22% of all survivors. Due to relatively high incidence and low mortality rates, 90% of women diagnosed with breast cancer will survive for five years or longer.
Breast cancer survivors at 10+ years post diagnosis also contribute to the majority of all cancer survivors, further necessitating a need for affordable survivorship programs.
Need for Affordable Survivorship Programs
Figure 1 depicts that in Muskegon County, African-American/Black women experience 31.2 percent unemployment and White women experience a 13.3% unemployment rate (Figure 1).
Figure 2 shows the percentage of women who live below the Federal Poverty Level in Muskegon County (Komen Michigan, 2015b).
Since many breast cancer survivors may have high-stress levels and unmet psychosocial needs (Butler et al., 1999) it is important to get access to hard-to-reach and underserved populations.
Thus, Komen Michigan called for novel interventions and options for support to a growing and diverse population of breast cancer survivors for its 2016 – 2017 grant cycle.
The Absenger Cancer Education Foundation (ACEF) Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program answers this call, initiating a much needed, multidimensional model of survivorship care.
The Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program integrates evidence-based mind-body medicine, focusing on social and emotional wellbeing and lifestyle interventions to improve the quality of life of Muskegon County’s breast cancer survivors.
With the funding from Komen Michigan, the Absenger Cancer Education Foundation (ACEF) will provide the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program FREE of charge to 50 breast cancer survivors for the duration of the grant cycle, which is April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017.
The Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship Program Design
Click the image to contact ACEF about our FREE Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship Program
Well-designed studies provide convincing evidence that mind-body modalities are beneficial adjuncts in oncology. Modalities evaluated for their use in oncology include relaxation therapies, biofeedback, meditation, hypnosis, yoga, music therapy, tai chi, and qigong.
These modalities may reduce pain, anxiety, insomnia, anticipatory, and treatment-related nausea, hot flashes, improve mood, loneliness, immune function, depression and psychophysiological reactions such as stress (Chandwani et al., 2012; Elkins, Fisher, & Johnson, 2010).
The Absenger Cancer Education Foundation (ACEF) will proivde FREE access to a multidimensional yoga, meditation, music therapy and mindful eating program for a minimum of 50 breast cancer survivors for one (1) year.
Women (or men with breast cancer) who are interested in the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program are asked to use any of the four modalities a minimum of three times per month.
Get in Touch with ACEF: You can fill out our “Contact Werner Form” or you can call ACEF at (616) 607-7360.
Introducing our Muskegon Partners: Johnson Family Cancer Center and Access Health
This program is only possible with the collaboration and partnerships of local organizations.
Based on Groessl et al. (2012), ACEF is confident that we can increase the percentage of women entering or staying in the continuum of survivorship care.
Groessl et al. (2012) recruited from an urban safety net hospital and five community health centers.
The team increased participation of predominately low-income (< $40,000/year), minority adults (82% nonwhite) in a yoga program.
Partnering with Johnson Family Cancer Center and Access Health will allow us to enroll a minimum of 50 breast cancer survivors in a reasonable amount of time.
Megan, Alyssa, and Angela from Johnson Family Cancer Center are collaborating with us on the best way to bring the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program to multiple sites. For a list of upcoming cancer seminars at Johnson Family Cancer Center click here.
What Benefits Might You Expect by Enrolling in the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship Program
Here is a brief overview of the evidence and the rationale for the four Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program modalities.
Yoga for the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship Program
Image Credit: (c) Lucia, J. (2010). Honor
Yoga in breast cancer survivorship has been shown to improve stress, quality of life, fatigue, finding meaning in the cancer experience, intrusive thoughts, sleep disturbances, depressive symptoms, and anxiety. Yoga can also modulate stress and DNA damage in breast cancer patients during radiotherapy (Banerjee et al., 2007; Cramer, Lange, Klose, Paul, & Dobos, 2012; Sharma, 2013).
Meditation for the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship Program
Meditation can improve cancer-related cognitive dysfunction, decrease stress symptoms, and cancer-related cytokine production. Meditation can also provide stress reduction and emotional support, resulting in trends toward telomere maintenance in distressed breast cancer survivors. Meditation has been shown to cut loneliness and pro-inflammatory gene expression in older adults (Biegler, Alejandro Chaoul, & Cohen, 2009; Carlson et al., 2015; Creswell et al., 2012).
Music Therapy for the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship Program
Research links music therapy to improved vital signs, stress pathways, immune responses, a range of effects on neurotransmitters, hormones, cytokines, lymphocytes, immunoglobulins, and psychological outcomes. Music therapy may reduce pain intensity and improve the quality of life during high-risk cancer treatments (Docherty et al., 2013; Fancourt, Ockelford, & Belai, 2014; Jasemi et al., 2013).
Mindful Eating for the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship Program
(c) lucy_b22. (2012). Horiztonal and vertical 2 [Image].
ACEF’s mindful eating program addresses the habituated patterns of food consumption that have developed over years. Mindful eating, juxtaposed to cutting calories, can help survivors reconstruct their ability to detect, and respond to natural cues of hunger and satiety. Re-patterning of automatic behaviors will have an impact on weight control, eating disinhibition, binge eating, depression, perceived stress, physical symptoms, and C-reactive protein. It may also impact the epigenome to lower cancer risk (Dalen et al., 2010; Sierpina et al., 2015).
If You are a Breast Cancer Survivor, Here is how You can Benefit and Participate
First sign up for our newsletter so that you won’t miss any important announcements or deadlines. The next step for you will be to enroll in the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program.
You will receive a participant ID. Your participant ID will allow us to record each Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program encounter for the duration of the grant cycle appropriately. This is important because be we must be able to monitor the project and make sure that we meet our project goals and objectives.
Here is the definition of one (1) encounter
One (1) breast cancer survivor taking one (1) class one (1) time = one program encounter.
Being able to compare actual encounters to the established benchmarks allows us to monitor the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program for successful progression.
Because each yoga, meditation, music therapy, and mindful eating intervention is designed to meet your needs precisely, and as evidenced by research, it is sensible to suspect that you can experience a considerable improvement in your quality of life with regular participation.
And finally, here are the classes we are planning to offer for the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program
Yoga and Meditation Classes
Between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017, ACEF’s Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program offers FREE of charge to breast cancer survivors:
- 104 yoga classes (2 per week),
- 104 meditation classes (2 per week)
Music Therapy (Guided Relaxation and Stress Relief)
Between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017, ACEF’s Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program offers FREE of charge to breast cancer survivors:
- 24 music therapy sessions (2 per month)
Mindful Eating Program
Between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017, ACEF’s Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program offers FREE of charge to breast cancer survivors:
- Five 6-week mindful eating groups
The groups are taught once weekly for 2 hours each, and we invite breast cancer survivors to take part for the entire five (5) week session to gain the most benefit from the mindful eating program.
Continuum of Care
From “Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition,” is an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report that summarizes medical and psychosocial issues faced by cancer survivors. To improve survivors’ health care and quality of life, the IOM recommends essential components of survivorship care ( The George Washington University Cancer Institute, 2013).
The SGKM’s Breast Cancer Continuum of Care Model (Figure 3) aligns with these IOM recommendations as well.
- PREVENTION: of recurrent and new cancers and late effects
- SURVEILLANCE: for metastasis, recurrence, or secondary cancers; assessment of medical and psychosocial late effects
- INTERVENTION: for impacts of cancer and its treatment
- COORDINATION: between specialists and primary care providers
Figure 3: Breast Cancer Continuum of Care
Figure 3 taken from Komen Michigan. (2015a). Request for applications community grants 2016-2017
The evidence-based mind-body medicine modalities in ACEF’s Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program provide breast cancer survivors with instructions that change psychosocial and behavioral risk factors.
Intrinsically, however, the mind-body medicine modalities also serve as prevention and intervention strategies. They may decrease the risk of recurrent and/or new cancers and late effects of cancer (prevention) and buffer the impacts of cancer and its treatment (intervention) (Greenlee et al. 2014).
Also, a breast cancer survivor’s participation in the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship will improve her ability to self-manage treatment and post-treatment care.
Thus, survivors are enabled to move seamlessly through the continuum of care, and not fall out of it.
To deliver comprehensive survivorship care, the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program must also include a surveillance and coordination piece. While in the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program women will be empowered and encouraged to follow their survivorship care plan through effective communication and education.
However, survivorship care plans have not become part of the standard of care. Only 43% of National Cancer Institute (NCI) -Designated Cancer Centers provided survivorship care plans for breast and colorectal cancer survivors (The George Washington University Cancer Institute, 2013).
Moreover, a study of 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data indicates that only 31% of survivors received a treatment summary, and 66% received written follow-up instructions. With the
Commission on Cancer Survivorship standard, however, a significant increase in the provision of survivorship care plans is expected (The George Washington University Cancer Institute, 2013).
ACEF will aid Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program participants to interpret their survivorship care plan (if they have one). We will also help survivors, who do not have an survivorship care plan, to create an survivorship care plan.
Creating an survivorship care plan or helping women interpret their survivorship care plan, while in the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program, will make sure women receive prompt, quality care to achieve the best outcomes.
Survivorship care plan counseling will also allow for timely, and proper referrals, empowering women to stay in the continuum of care.
Collaboration with other Organizations
Community resources available for referral of survivors include Mercy Health System, Mercy Health’s Comprehensive Breast Center, Public Health Muskegon County, Radiology Muskegon, and the Michigan Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCNP).
Women will also be encouraged to follow-up with their oncologists, primary care physicians and or other health care providers.
Last but not least, ACEF’s membership in the Michigan Cancer Consortium (MCC) will enable us to reach and collaborate with scientific experts and medical professionals.
Having access to experts from Michigan’s most respected institutions will allow us to keep more survivors in the continuum of care, optimizing further health outcomes for breast cancer survivors in Muskegon County.
Summary
Due to increasing numbers of breast cancer survivors, it is important to find interventions that are efficient and appeal to a broad range of survivors.
ACEF’s mind-body modalities offered through the Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program are suitable for survivorship care based on self-regulation theory, which explains how people cope with and adapt to stressful situations.
Research indicates that mind-body modalities offer tangible therapeutic endpoints, such as a reduction in stress and anxiety.
Mind-body modalities may have a plausible mechanism of action and target survivor needs that may not otherwise be addressed (Monti et al., 2008).
Be a Best Friend: Please share “You give up things when you join ACEF’s FREE Living Well in Breast Cancer Survivorship program…” with your friends to let them know about this program.
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