help button home button The Oncologist
HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow eLetters: Submit a response to this article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article link to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Reprints/Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Penson, R. T.
Right arrow Articles by Lynch, T. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Penson, R. T.
Right arrow Articles by Lynch, T. J., Jr.
The Oncologist, Vol. 9, No. 2, 217–225, April 2004
© 2004 AlphaMed Press

Help Me Help You: Support Groups in Cancer Therapy

Richard T. Penson, Shivali H.G. Talsania, Bruce A. Chabner, Thomas J. Lynch, Jr.

Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Correspondence: Richard T. Penson, MRCP, M.D., Instructor in Medicine, Hematology-Oncology, Cox 548, 100 Blossom Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114-2617, USA. Telephone: 617-726-5867; Fax: 617-724-6898; e-mail: rpenson{at}partners.org

Shortly before his death in 1995, Kenneth B. Schwartz, a cancer patient at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), founded The Kenneth B. Schwartz Center at MGH. The Schwartz Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and advancing compassionate health care delivery that provides hope to the patient, support to caregivers, and encourages the healing process. The Center sponsors the Schwartz Center Rounds, a monthly multidisciplinary forum where caregivers reflect on important psychosocial issues faced by patients, their families, and their caregivers, and gain insight and support from fellow staff members.

Three invited patients attended rounds and told their compelling stories; these each effectively demonstrated their fight as cancer survivors. Much of the strength that they displayed came from the different types of support they each received, and the invaluable role of the medical team. Each shared a very positive experience with ‘The Wellness Community,’ in Boston. The article discusses issues of support and the role of formal support groups. Types of support intervention, the impact they have on quality of life and survival are reviewed.

Key Words. Oncology • Support • Psychosocial • Communication • Care • Connection






HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE ONCOLOGIST STEM CELLS CME ALPHAMED PRESS JOURNALS


Copyright © 2004 by AlphaMed Press.