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Related Websites and Additional Reading

December 10, 2023

Dementia

Dementia Australia - Dementia Australia represents the 472,000 Australians living with dementia and the almost 1.6 million Australians involved in their care. Their strategic objectives are to significantly reduce the time it takes to diagnose dementia and increase the number of people accessing support, including those living in hard-to-reach locations; to create baseline and best-practice standards for quality dementia care, in consultation with stakeholders. We will advocate for the baseline standards, which will include provisions for training, to be implemented into aged care facilities across Australia; and to tackle discrimination head on so that no-one with dementia feels isolated.

NeuRA - Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) is an independent, not-for-profit research institute based in Sydney, Australia. As a leader in brain and nervous system research, their goal is to prevent, treat and cure brain and nervous system diseases, disorders and injuries through medical research. They were previously known as the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute.

Patient-Centred Care

Australian Cancer Survivorship Centre - The Australian Cancer Survivorship Centre (ACSC) is based at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Peter Mac) in Parkville (VIC). The ACSC aims to improve outcomes for people affected by cancer. They work with clinical providers (medical, nursing, allied health) at Peter Mac and throughout Victoria and beyond, as well as survivors and a range of organisations, to enable improved care for survivors, their families and carers.

CareFully - Compassionate care isn’t an impossible challenge but is a culture shift. CareFully equips healthcare professionals, and those working in adjacent industries, with a powerful toolkit, training them to provide compassionate, patient-centred care. CareFully knows the daily challenges faced by the healthcare workforce, and they understand the patient facing treatment. CareFully brings these dual-perspectives together in tailored workshops, inspirational addresses and consultancy services, to create a lasting impact on the quality of care in your organisation.

Palliative Care Australia - Palliative Care Australia is the national peak body for palliative care. It represents all those who work towards high quality palliative care for all Australians. Working closely with consumers, our Member Organisations and the palliative care workforce, we aim to improve access to, and promote the need for, palliative care. We believe quality palliative care occurs when strong networks exist between specialist palliative care providers, primary generalist, primary specialist, and support care providers and the community. Palliative Care Australia launched in 1998, developing from the Australian Association for Hospice and Palliative Care Inc which started in 1991.

Caresearch - the CareSearch Project consolidates online palliative care knowledge for health professionals, for people needing palliative care and their families, and for the general community. Our project is responsible for two major websites, the CareSearch website and the palliAGED website. The CareSearch Project also works closely with a number of other projects to maximise impact within the sector. CareSearch is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health. The funding is provided to enable the provision of evidence based palliative care information and materials to everyone. The funder does not influence editorial policies or quality processes.

The Violet Initiative - thousands of Australians are caring for someone in the last stage of life. Whatever your situation Violet is here to help. It's never going to be easy... but it can be better. For both informal and formal caregivers, supporting someone in the last stage of life is one of the toughest human experiences. Violet brings together the wisdom of lived experience and a global evidence base to help caregivers to provide relief, build resilience and help people be better prepared and supported.

Asbestos-Related Cancers

Bernie Banton Foundation (Australia) - An Online Mesothelioma & Asbestos-Related Disease Support Community

Head & Neck Cancers

Below is a link to a site created by Itzhak Brook MD, a physician and a laryngectomee. It contains discussions of informative topics related to head and neck cancer and life as a laryngectomee.

Side Effects of Radiation Treatment for Head and Neck Cancer - by Itzchak Brook MD

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Oncology Massage Therapy and Boundaries

February 1, 2024

Gentle touch massage therapy is a most profound way of communicating with frail people, writes Tania Shaw, Executive Manager of Oncology Massage Limited, a not-for-profit training organisation for therapists who want to work with people with cancer.

Evidence for Oncology Massage

January 18, 2024

Massage & Cancer Integrative Oncology in Australia 2016: Mapping Service Provision and Exploring Unmet Needs Smith, C., Hunter, J., Ussher, J. M., Delaney, G., Grant, S., Templeman, K., Parton, C., Kellett, A. (2017) Australian organisations are increasingly providing Integrative Oncology (IO) services, signalling the need for clearer national guidance and polices. Discrepancies continue between what cancer survivors are doing or seeking, and the IO services they can access. Survivorship and wellness clinics are in urgent need of development. Coordinated strategic planning between all providers and insurers is required if the long-term needs of cancer survivors are to be adequately and equitably met. Clinical practice guidelines on the evidence-based use of integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment Greenlee H 1,2, DuPont-Reyes MJ 3, Balneaves LG 4, Carlson LE 5, Cohen MR 6,7, Deng G 8, Johnson JA 9, Mumber M 10, Seely D 11,12, Zick SM 13,14, Boyce LM 15, Tripathy D 16. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017 May 6;67(3):194-232. doi: 10.3322/caac.21397. Epub 2017 Apr 24 Patients with breast cancer commonly use complementary and integrative therapies as supportive care during cancer treatment and to manage treatment-related side effects. However, evidence supporting the use of such therapies in the oncology setting is limited. This report provides updated clinical practice guidelines from the Society for Integrative Oncology on the use of integrative therapies for specific clinical indications during and after breast cancer treatment, including anxiety/stress, depression/mood disorders, fatigue, quality of life/physical functioning, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, lymphedema, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, pain, and sleep disturbance. Clinical practice guidelines are based on a systematic literature review from 1990 through 2015. Music therapy, meditation, stress management, and yoga are recommended for anxiety/stress reduction. Meditation, relaxation, yoga, massage, and music therapy are recommended for depression/mood disorders. Meditation and yoga are recommended to improve quality of life. Acupressure and acupuncture are recommended for reducing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Acetyl-L-carnitine is not recommended to prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy due to a possibility of harm. No strong evidence supports the use of ingested dietary supplements to manage breast cancer treatment-related side effects. In summary, there is a growing body of evidence supporting the use of integrative therapies, especially mind-body therapies, as effective supportive care strategies during breast cancer treatment. Many integrative practices, however, remain understudied, with insufficient evidence to be definitively recommended or avoided. The effect of massage on immune function and stress in women with breast cancer--a randomized controlled trial Billhult A 1, Lindholm C , Gunnarsson R , Stener-Victorin E . Auton Neurosci. 2009 Oct 5;150(1-2):111-5. doi: 10.1016/j.autneu.2009.03.010. Epub 2009 Apr 18. A single full-body light pressure effleurage massage has a short-term effect on NK cell activity, systolic blood pressure and heart rate in patients with breast cancer. However, the long-term clinical importance of these findings needs to be further investigated. Natural killer cells and lymphocytes increase in women with breast cancer following massage therapy Hernandez-Reif M , Field T , Ironson G , Beutler J , Vera Y , Hurley J , Fletcher MA , Schanberg S , Kuhn C , Fraser M . Int J Neurosci. 2005 Apr;115(4):495-510. Women diagnosed with breast cancer received massage therapy or practiced progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) for 30-min sessions 3 times a week for 5 weeks or received standard treatment. The massage therapy and relaxation groups reported less depressed mood, anxiety, and pain immediately after their first and last sessions. By the end of the study, however, only the massage therapy group reported being less depressed and less angry and having more vigor. Dopamine levels, Natural Killer cells, and lymphocytes also increased from the first to the last day of the study for the massage therapy group. These findings highlight the benefit of these complementary therapies, most particularly massage therapy, for women with breast cancer.