Grass roots efforts in South Bay hope to establish a national program that addresses the mental health and quality of life issues of valley cancer patients

Cancer patients may find needed mental, physical, emotional and social support if a new branch of The Wellness Community can raise enough money to open an office in San Jose.

The group, The Wellness Community of Silicon Valley, hopes to raise $500,000 this coming year — an amount required by the national chapter — before it can open as planned in January 2009.

The group's goal is to diminish distress and improve the quality of life for cancer patients and caregivers.

The national group, The Wellness Community (TWC), states that it conducts research to quantify and document the benefits of psychosocial support for people with cancer in conjunction with Stanford University; University of California, Los Angeles Cancer Center; UC San Francisco; Catholic University; M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and Rutgers University.

The Wellness Community of Silicon Valley would assist cancer patients at home or in local offices with:

• Emotional support groups;
• Stress management programs;
• Educational programs about various cancers including workshops and physician-led discussions in a nonclinical setting;
• Social support through gatherings, movie nights, etc.; and
• On-line support groups (available at www.thewellnesscommunity.org) that meet weekly with trained professionals. Support groups will be available in English and Spanish.
All patient programs are free and patients do not need physician referrals to attend. However, the national organization and the local chapter will rely on referrals from doctors so that the chapter can assist their cancer patients. The clinic will soon launch a direct mail campaign to physicians, oncology nurses and others to make them aware of this future clinic.

In northern California, there is only one other chapter of The Wellness Community, located in Walnut Creek.

Acting Executive Director Karen Storey said that Santa Clara County is expected to have more than 6,300 new cancer cases diagnosed in 2007 alone, according to the California Cancer Registry. Figures were not available for all of northern California, but the Northern California Cancer Center notes that more than 10,500 people died of various cancers in Santa Clara County between the years 2000 to 2004.

Storey estimated The Wellness Clinic Silicon Valley would serve 1,000 to 1,400 patients a year.
Breast, prostate, lung and colorectal cancers are the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the county, accounting for 52 percent of all cancer cases diagnosed in 2007 alone according to statistics from The Wellness Community.

According to a survey by TWC's West Los Angeles chapter, patients who participated in the programs said they felt less alone (93 percent), said their stress level was improved (89 percent), they gained hope (87 percent), were better able to handle their disease (83 percent), thought their relationship with their loved ones had improved (78 percent) and believed they had improved the quality of their life (77 percent).

Any money collected by TWC Silicon Valley will stay in the local community except for a small fee paid annually to the national affiliate, Storey said.

She would like local hospitals to provide sponsorship funds, as well as individual donations and grants. Storey estimated that the clinic's annual budget would be no more than $1.2 million a year. "If hospitals can help with the funding, we can provide more consistent services," she said.
The clinic will have three full-time employees and five to six part-time people when it opens in January 2009, Storey said.

For more information, contact Storey at 408.298.5381 or Karen@svwellness.org.

—By Diana Diamond

Diana Diamond is the editor of the Healthcare Journal. You can reach her at diana@healthjournalnorcal.com.