Joseph Claar

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Publication Date

Spring 5-2016

Abstract

People who are diagnosed with cancer should have access to information about their disease. These patients require the proper supportive care to meet their needs, and in order to do that; many people are turning to cancer support centers. These centers offer complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) such as yoga, meditation, reiki, support groups, etc. Cancer support centers have been developed that try to reach as many people as possible with their services. Maine is a very rural state so not everyone has easy access to complementary and alternative medicine practices, but these cancer support services can be found at various facilities throughout the state. Cancer support centers do everything that they can to make sure that patients and families affected by cancer receive high-quality information and support. In order to make sure that these centers are responsive to the needs of the people affected by the disease, I have conducted a study to determine what services the patients have found to be beneficial.

One hundred and twenty two participants took the survey. Survey participants found a majority of the services listed to be beneficial to their health. Exercise/fitness group was the most beneficial and hypnosis was the least beneficial. Common themes came up in the survey that included topics such as the need for more support centers and less traveling for members.

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