Reiki Volunteer Program Benefits Patients (14th February 2011) 
Julie Hahn, left, and volunteer Paula Jarema plan their schedule for the morning.
Many patients faced with hospitalization are under a great deal of stress, but thanks to the Department of Nursing’s Integrative Care Reiki Volunteer Program, these patients—and their families—have a way to relax.
Reiki (pronounced ray-kee) therapy is a form of energy healing that helps the body use its own ability to balance itself. It involves light touch at certain points along the body, and is designed to promote stress reduction, relaxation and healing.
The program began as a pilot in July 2009, with volunteers trained to provide Reiki in nine designated units in the hospital. Now, with 60 volunteers and 25 candidates currently undergoing training, the program has provided 6,500 20-minute sessions in 30 units of the hospital including oncology, cardiology, medical surgical and neurology.
“It’s a young program, but the response has been tremendous,” said Julie Hahn, coordinator of the Reiki Volunteer Program. “It’s a wonderful way to support people who are in a very stressful environment.”
Heart transplant recipient Matt McCabe and his wife, Gayle, both benefited from Reiki sessions throughout McCabe’s four-month stay at the hospital at the end of 2010.
“When you’re a transplant candidate, you’re just sitting there waiting for that call,” said McCabe, who is now home in Jordan, New York, after leaving BWH in December with a new heart. “It was very stressful for both my wife and me, but the Reiki sessions helped us relax and kind of let things go.”
Eileen Molina, RN, MS, nursing director of Tower 5AB, agrees that Reiki treatments are invaluable for many of the patients on her floor.
“It’s amazing to watch what a difference it makes for patients,” Molina said. “At the end of the session, they have less nausea and pain, and many of them sleep better. After a Reiki session, they have a better day.”
Hahn says the support the program gets from nursing directors and other staff on the floor is essential for the success of the program. Every day, she works with nurses throughout the hospital to identify patients who could benefit from treatment. She then schedules the sessions and ensures that a volunteer will be available for each patient who is interested—not an easy feat considering many of the patients are in and out of their rooms throughout the day for a number of reasons, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
But, Hahn says, after seeing the benefit Reiki has on their patients, many nurses and physicians are now requesting this intervention for their patients.
“On any given Wednesday, after the Reiki volunteers do their rounds, there’s a different feeling in the unit,” said Suzanne Silvernail, RN, nursing director on Tower 15D. “Many patients are sleeping or just lying there, relaxed. It’s very nice.”
New College of Complementary Medicine Opens
06/08/2010
A new college is to open in the autumn with an aim to increase acceptance of an integrated approach to health. The new college called the College of medicine has emerged from the now closed Foundation for Integrated Health, a charity established by HRH the Prince of Wales. It closed in April after a criminal investigation by Scotland Yard into money laundering and fraud. Eventually George Gray, the finance director, was charged with stealing nearly £253,000.
The College of Medicine aims to raise the acceptance of "an integrated approach to health" and is targeting the public, politicians and doctors. They intend to do this through publishing films, books and journals and by running courses.
Many doctors already accept the value of integrated medicine believing that by taking the patients’ personal circumstances and beliefs into account, their well being is improved. Some of these doctors include complementary therapies in their practice along with conventional medicine, but this makes them seen as controversial.
Some scientists are unhappy about the new college being set up as they don’t believe that complementary medicine has any effect and consider it a waste of taxpayers’ money if funded out of the public purse.
All four of the directors of the new college were either fellows or directors of the prince’s charity, but none of them were accused of anything during the investigation.
Professor of pharmacology at University College London, David Colquhoun, is a well known critic of alternative medicine. It was he who obtained the details of the College of Medicine from the registration documents that were filed at Companies House.
Colquhoun said about the “constant claim of alternative medicine enthusiasts that only they appreciate the caring side of medicine,” that it “is simply not true." He continued: “If I'm ill, I want above all to be cured. I don't want to be given magic beans and left to die. However caring the treater may be, the treatment fails if I'm not cured."
The college was actually registered as the Foundation for Integrated Health, but the directors later changed the name. A slide show produced under the Foundation for Integrated Health name stated that the new college is: "a new strategy to take forward the vision of HRH Prince Charles," and that "It is the evolution of his Foundation for Integrated Health's work to date."
A spokesperson from Clarence House revealed that although the Prince of Wales does know about the new college, he "has not been involved with setting-up the college, is not launching it and has no official role with it."
taken from www.shirleymaclaine.com yes, actress, activist etc
Health Notes
Did you know that more than one in four U.S. hospitals now offer alternative and complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, homeopathy, and massage therapy. A new survey of nearly 1,400 U.S. hospitals showed that the normally staid mainstream medical institutions are providing complementary and alternative therapies to meet growing demand from us, the public. The survey is conducted and published by the American Hospital Association every two years and the mpst recent shows the percentage of hospitals offering one or more CAM services increased from 8% in 1998 to 27% in 2005.
A 2002 CDC survey showed that more than half of Americans thought combining CAM with conventional medicine would be helpful. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) include therapies that are not based on traditional Western medical teachings and may range from acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, to diet and lifestyle changes, herbal medicine, and massage therapy, and beyond.
What seemed amazing and was contrary to popular belief, researchers found that complimentary and alternative medicine offerings were most common in the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin) and less common on the West Coast. The least common areas to offer CAM services were in the South (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee).
The top six complementary and alternative medicine services offered on an outpatient basis among hospitals offering CAM were massage therapy (71%); tai chi, yoga, or chi gong (47%); relaxation training (43%), acupuncture (39%); guided imagery (32%), and therapeutic touch (30%). Top inpatient services were massage therapy (37%), music/art therapy (26%), therapeutic touch (25%), guided imagery (22%), relaxation training (20%), and acupuncture (11%).
Other findings of the survey include:
Most hospitals that offered CAM were in urban areas and were large or medium-sized (more than 100 beds).
Teaching hospitals accounted for 36% of hospitals responding to the survey and offering CAM services, perhaps reflecting the finding in a 2004 study that more than 3/4 of medical schools require a course in CAM.
Most hospitals offered their CAM services at other locations while 37% provided them in a hospital wellness or fitness center. That made me wonder if the hospital was concerned about their allopathic image being tarnished through association with CAM? Unfortunately, that possibility was not addressed in the study. It is also important to know that while it is wonderful these CEM services are being permitted and endorsed, most CAM services are paid for by patients as an out-of-pocket medical expense as there are limited insurance coverages for CAM proceedures.
Massage Reduces Chronic Tension Headache
15/07/2010
University of Granada researchers have shown that a 30 minute massage is able to reduce tension headache symptoms. The project involved cooperation between the University of Granada, the University Rey Juan Carlos and the Clinical Hospital San Cecilio. Between them they revealed how massage changes the physiological as well as psychological state of tension headache patients inside of 24 hours from receiving the massage.
The standard treatment for tension headaches, which are becoming increasingly prevalent in the population, is to administer analgesics, but these only temporarily relieve the symptoms.
The researchers already understood that one of the main reasons for the development of tension headaches is the presence of trigger points, which are specific points on the body that literally trigger pain or headaches.
Leader of the study was researcher Cristina Toro Velasco, who worked under the supervision of Professor Manuel Arroyo Morales. She worked on massaging the cervical trigger points of her patients for 30 minutes in order to improve the regulation of the autonomic nervous system. Interestingly, the treatment led to both a physiological improvement as well as a better psychological state in the form of a reduction in the "stress and anxiety associated to such a disturbing disorder".
Within 24 hours of treatment, the patients were reporting relief from their symptoms. The researchers think that this was due to the massage lowering the pain activated by the trigger points which in turn resulted in a better general sense of well being in the patients.
The American Journal of Manipulative Physiological and Therapeutics is to publish the study.
Relaxing Extends Cancer Survival
10/06/2010
A study has revealed that women with breast cancer are able to extend cancer survival by learning to relax. The study conducted in the U.S. examined the survival rates of women who had their cancer return after their initial treatment. The group of women volunteers worked with psychologists to come up with ways to reduce stress; stress being one of the main causes of cancer complications.
Reducing stress levels enabled the immune system to remain strong and resulted in Improvements in the quality of the women’s lives. The women who were part of the support group that helped them deal with stress lived on average 6 months longer than those that did not.
From Ohio State University, Columbus psychology professor Barbara Andersen said, "If you have someone who can provide effective, research-supported ways to reduce your stress, not only will that affect your mental health. It will likely affect your symptoms and your recovery."
The 227 women who volunteered for the study were newly diagnosed with Stage II or III breast cancer. Some of the women received therapy to enable them to understand their stress, cope with it, stick to the cancer treatment prescribed to them and develop an over all better emotional state. The other women received a psychological assessment.
What was unusual about the results was that the therapy enhanced the women’s survival rates which had not been known before in other studies.
Andersen further explained the details of the study, saying: "It was far more than the popular notion of support groups of patients in a room talking about their troubles," adding that “Certain patients talked about things that were stressful to them, but they also learned really effective ways to cope with that stress."
Previous parts of the study showed that 45% of women who had attended the support group had less likelihood of their breast cancer returning after 11 years of follow ups.
The enhanced survival rates revealed in this last phase of the study were above and beyond any drug treatment improvements.
From Washington University in St. Louis, Sarah Gehlert stated that "An intervention that increased survival would be incredibly valuable. It represents a new tool for improving the lives of women with breast cancer." She had no connection with the study.
The Cancer Clinical Research journal is to publish the findings
MEDITATION TO HELP WITH DEPRESSION
Imagine if you could cure depression with a therapy that was more effective and long-lasting than expensive drugs, and which did not have any side effects. These are the claims being made for a form of Buddhist meditation.
Last week, psychologists from the University of Exeter published a study into "mindfulness-based cognitive therapy" (MBCT), finding it to be better than drugs or counselling for depression. Four months after starting, three quarters of the patients felt well enough to stop taking antidepressants.
MBCT marries Eastern meditation with Western cognitive therapy. Patients are taught the simple technique over eight sessions and then practise it at home for 30 minutes a day. Professor Willem Kuyken, whose team at the Mood Disorders Centre of the University of Exeter carried out the research, says: "Anti-depressants are widely used by people who suffer from depression and that's because they tend to work. While they're very effective in helping reduce the symptoms of depression, when people come off them they are particularly vulnerable to relapse. For many people, MBCT seems to prevent that relapse. It could be an alternative to long-term antidepressant medication."
MBCT was developed in the mid-Nineties by psychologists at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Toronto to help stabilise patients' moods during and after use of antidepressants. About half of patients relapse into depression – even if they continue taking the medication. One common reason for a relapse is when a normal period of sadness turns into obsessive brooding.
"Brooding is a key feature of depression," says Mark Williams, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oxford and leader of the team that developed MBCT. "In mentally healthy people, sad thoughts pass quite quickly but in people who suffer from depression they don't. MBCT tackles brooding and teaches people to be more compassionate to themselves and others."
The MBCT technique is simple, and revolves around ''mindfulness meditation''. In this, you sit with your eyes closed and focus on your breathing. (See box for details). Concentrating on the rhythm of the breath helps produce a feeling of detachment. The idea is that you come to realise that thoughts come and go of their own accord, and that your conscious self is distinct from your thoughts. This realisation is encouraged by gentle question-and-answer sessions modelled on those in cognitive therapy.
In the University of Exeter study, funded by the Medical Research Council, 47 per cent of patients with long-term depression suffered a relapse; the figure was 60 per cent among those taking medication alone. Other studies, including two published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, had comparable outcomes. As a result, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has recommended MBCT since 2004. But NHS availability is still patchy. Many sufferers seek private treatment, with courses at Buddhist centres costing around £120.
"One of the key features of depression is that it hijacks your attention," says Prof Williams. "We all tend to bring to the forefront of our minds the thoughts and feelings that reflect our current mood. If you are sad, depressed or anxious, then you tend to remember the bad things that have happened to you and not the good. This drives you into a downward spiral that leads from sadness into a deeper depression. MBCT prevents and breaks that spiral."
1. Sit upright in a straight-backed chair, with your spine about an inch from the back of the chair, and your feet flat on the floor.
2. Close your eyes. Use your mind to watch your breath as it flows in and out. Observe your sensations without judgement. Do not try to alter your breathing.
3. After a while your mind will wander. Gently bring your attention back to your breath. The act of realising that your mind has wandered – and bringing your attention back – is the key thing.
4. Your mind will eventually become calm.
5. Repeat every day for 20–30 minutes.
The British College of Integrated Medicine
At the launch at the Royal College of Physicians in Regents Park, the Integrated Health Trust, formed in November 2007, will announce its first achievement - the formation of the British College of Integrated Medicine which will start its first courses to educate doctors and nurses in all aspects of the IM model in January 2009. This course will be run by IM pioneers Dr Rosy Daniel and Dr Mark Atkinson and other leaders in the IM field. It will be professionally validated by the team of Professor Karol Sikora at his innovative Medical School at the University of Buckingham.
Integrated healthcare combines the very best of all medicines - orthodox, complementary, psychological, nutritional, spiritual and self-help - for the care of the sick and the prevention of illness. IM practitioners treat the cause and not just the symptoms of illness and enhance the self-healing potential of the body, mind and spirit.
Professor Karol Sikora, Clinical Dean at Buckingham University and Medical Director of Cancer Partners UK* is one of the Trust’s advisors, and will be speaking at the launch about the importance of Integrated Medicine in the UK. He said: “This is a remarkable and ambitious initiative aiming to bring IM into routine use throughout healthcare in Britain. It urgently requires a focus for training, teaching and research that this project envisages. The combination of aging populations, technological progress and an informed, demanding clientele will result in increasing financial strain in all healthcare environments. Predominantly tax based systems, such as Britain’s NHS, are particularly vulnerable to meltdown unless new approaches can be found to return people to health with simpler and cheaper holistic strategies.”
Mac Jeffery, a beneficiary of integrated medicine who will be speaking at the launch, said:
“Integrated Medicine has played such an important part in my survival from cancer.
I have received excellent orthodox treatment, accessed the best in complementary therapy and on the way met some amazing practitioners.
Integrated Medicine has focused on 'all of me' not just my illness and given me strategies to take control of my life and health.”
Usui Reiki
1st Degree Shoden Introduction
1 day course
9.30 - 17.30
Chertsey, Surrey
Course content:-
Learn about the history of Usui Reiki and it's founder Mikao Usui
Be attuned to the Universal Energy
Learn how to use Reiki on yourself, your family, friends, pets and plants
Experience meditations for self improvement.
for specific dates contact Healing In The Workplace
Cost is £150 and this includes follow-up service by the course provider for at least 21 days
(discount for clients of Healing In The Workplace)
info@healingintheworkplace.co.uk
01932 883693 / 07752 297625
New Venues
The Runnymede Centre
Chertsey, Surrey
We are pleased to announce that Healing In The Workplace
is providing
Usui Reiki & Holistic Massage sessions
for the staff at this location
on the first Tuesday of each month.
CREST CANCER ORGANISATION
This organisation provides Relaxation & Pamper Days for Cancer Patients and their Carers twice a year. Relaxation & Pamper Days are organised by Sara Dobson and the staff at Crest Cancer, based at the Spelthorne Council Offices in Staines.
These Relaxation & Pamper Days provide 2 complementary therapy sessions for the attendees over the course of the day, starting at 10am through to 4pm. Crest Cancer also provide refreshments during coffee and tea breaks, and a beautiful buffet lunch at midday.
These days are held at Manor Mead School in Shepperton and we must thank them for allowing the Relaxation & Pamper Day providers and attendees to use their beautiful premises.
Complementary therapists and the staff and volunteers of Crest Cancer give their services for free to provide this exceptional day of pampering. Healing In The Workplace is pleased and proud to be a provider of Usui Reiki to cancer patients and their carers on these Relaxation & Pamper days.
Why not get in touch to find out when the next Pamper Day will be held?
www.crestcancer.org or go to the links page.