A program called Pathfinders has been shown to help women with terminal cancer improve their quality of life through a holistic approach to the care of body, mind and spirit.
Pathfinders is built around the seven pillars of personal recovery hope, balance, inner strengths, self-care, support, spirit and life review providing counseling, coping skills training, mind and body techniques and lifestyle advice.
In the study, researchers from the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center enrolled 50 breast cancer patients with a prognosis of less than six months survival. The women met with a trained social worker at least monthly, and participated in telephone conversations and e-mail exchanges to identify inner strength, learn coping skills and explore complementary and alternative medical services.
“There is a growing body of data that shows cancer patients have unmet psychosocial needs, and with programs like Pathfinders we are able to care for the whole person,” says Dr. Amy Abernethy, an oncologist at Duke University Medical Center and lead investigator on the study.
“As a result, we found that this group of women reported a higher quality of life three months after being diagnosed than was expected,” she added.
For those who are looking for natural ways of coping with stress and lifes adversities there is a range of health resources to choose from, including physical exercise, meditation, massages, aromatherapy as well as nutritional supplements. 