The Simms/Mann - UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology is part of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and UCLA Oncology.
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Sites Related to Wellness, Treatment and Support

There are a wide range of sites included in this section including sites related to treatments, drugs, research, nutrition, complementary care, financial support, talking to children about cancer and end of life care.  They are categorized alphabetically.

ALTERNATIVE/COMPLEMENTARY CARE SITES

Career

CAREGIVERS

CHILDREN

  • KidsCope
    A non profit organization formed to help families and children better understand the effects of cancer and chemotherapy in a parent.

DRUG INFORMATION

END OF LIFE

  • Aging with Dignity
    A privately-funded, non-profit organization that advocates for the needs of elders and their caregivers, with a particular emphasis on improving care for those at the end of lilfe. They have a section called five wishes which helps prepare advance directives.
  • Compassion in Action
    An organization dedicated to compassionate care of the dying, “because no one should have to die alone.”
  • David Kessler, RN
    This author has written excellent books about a difficult topic, the end of life and the rights of the dying. Links to hospice programs and other organizations are provided.
  • Dying Well
    Dr. Ira Byock, international leader in hospice and palliative care, uses his book’s title “Dying Well” to define wellness through the end of life, and to provide resources for people facing life-limiting illness, their families, and their professional caregivers. He provides the “Five Things” he has found are important to say for healing at the end of life.
  • Compassion & Choices
    The oldest and largest right-to-die organization in the U.S.
  • Hospice Foundation of America
    A not-for-profit organization that provides leadership in the development and application of hospice and its philosophy of care. Through programs of professional development, research, public education and information, Hospice Foundation of America assists those who cope either personally or professionally with terminal illness, death, and the process of grief.
  • Hospice Net
    This site is for patients and families facing life-threatening illness. It provides information about Hospice care and services, links to local agencies, support for caregivers, and help with bereavement issues.
  • National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
    A nonprofit organization committed to improving end of life care and expanding access to hospice care with the goal of profoundly enhancing quality of life for people dying in American and their loved ones.

ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE – PATIENT RESOURCE

FATIGUE

  • Cancer Fatigue
    This site allows you to learn more about cancer treatment-related fatigue, including information for both patients and caregivers; manage fatigue with energy saving techniques and tips on talking to your nurse, doctor, employer and family; and securely and privately ask an oncology nurse your question about treatment-related fatigue.

FERTILITY

  • Fertile Hope
    A fertility preservation resource for patients whose medical treatments present the risk of infertility. (888) 994-HOPE.

FINANCIAL AND LEGAL INFORMATION – INSURANCE

  • Medicare Rights Center
    MRC is the largest independent source of health care information and assistance in the United States for people with Medicare.
  • The Affordable Care Act: Cancer and Employment Webinar, Date: November 12, 2014
    This FREE, 60-minute webinar will provide important information about the Affordable Care Act for cancer patients and survivors including the upcoming Open Enrollment Period, accessing coverage through health insurance marketplaces, Medicaid, subsidies and tax credits.
  • The Body: Affording Care
    A series of articles aimed at empowering the seriously ill through financial education and information.
  • California Employment Development Dept
    A state of California employment site.
  • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
    The federal agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
  • Health Insurance Association of America
    A trade association representing the private health care system.
  • Patient Advocate Foundation
    A national non-profit organization that serves as an active liaison between the patient and their insurer, employer and/or creditors to resolve insurance, job discrimination and/or debt crisis matters relative to their diagnosis through case managers, doctors and attorneys.

FINANCIAL AND LEGAL INFORMATION – LEGAL

FINANCIAL AND LEGAL INFORMATION – TRANSPORTATION

  • The Air Care Alliance
    A nationwide league of humanitarian flying organizations dedicated to community service.
  • Angel Flight West
    The mission of Angel Flight West is to arrange free air transportation on private aircraft in response to health care and other compelling human needs.
  • Corporate Angel Network
    Provides free air transportation for cancer patients traveling to and from recognized US treatment centers without regard to their financial resources.
  • Mercy Medical Airlift
    A non-profit organization dedicated to serving people in situations of compelling human need through the provision of charitable air transportation.
  • PatientTravel.org
    Provides information about all forms of charitable, long-distance medical air transportation and provides referrals to all appropriate sources of help available through the Angel Flight America Network.

FINANCIAL AND LEGAL INFORMATION – FOOD AND HOUSING

  • Los Angeles Food Bank – Listing of Charitable Agency Sites in Los Angeles County Served By The Foodbank
  • Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority – LAHSA ERT offer services for people in the City and County of Los Angeles who are homeless or at risk of experiencing homelessness.
  • Los Angeles Mission – The LA Mission provides both residential and emergency services to the community, including meals, showers, clothing, academic courses, employment workshops, job search assistance and referral services.

GRIEF/LOSS

  • GriefNet
    GriefNet.org is an Internet community of persons dealing with grief, death, and major loss. It has 50 e-mail support groups and two web sites. The integrated approach to on-line grief support provides help to people working through loss and grief issues of all kinds. Their companion site, KIDSAID, provides a safe environment for kids and their parents to find information and ask questions.
  • Growth House
    This site is your international gateway to resources for support during life-threatening illness and end of life care. The primary mission is to improve the quality of compassionate care for people who are dying, through public education and global professional collaboration.
  • Hope Connection, Inc
    Helps people whose lives have been touched by the death of a loved one – by providing individual and group support, educational programs and information that helps
 alleviate the pain of grief and promote healing.
  • Willowgreen
    Willowgreen is a leading provider of information and inspiration in the areas of illness and dying, loss and grief, healthy caregiving, life transition, and spirituality.
  • Our House
    Our house is an organization that offer grief support groups by specially trained volunteers for adults and children who have lost a spouse, parent, or child.  They believe that there is healing in a safe and supportive environment and that the relationships in a group are beneficial.

HOME CARE

HOPE AND SUPPORT

LYMPHEDEMA

Meditation

MENOPAUSE

MIND/BODY HEALTH & SPIRITUAL RESOURCES

The sites below are useful both for the person dealing with cancer as well as for the loving caretakers who are supporting them. None of these sites focus on a particular religion, but rather on the broader term of spirituality. These are not meant to take the place of either good therapy or your own religious practice, but rather to give you tools to get you through a difficult time.

    • Help Guide
      This non-profit website supported by a local Rotary group contains a lot of good information on a variety of mental health topics, including stress, anxiety, grief and depression.
    • Learning Meditation
      A free site devoted to learning to meditate. Along with general information in writing about meditation, more than a dozen taped meditations can be heard. They combine restful music with spoken instructions. Links and recommended readings are also listed. A commercial shop is attached as well, but purchase is not required to use the site.
    • Gratefulness
      Gratitude and the cultivation of this virtue have been shown in research to reduce stress, improve physical symptoms and improves mood. One of the best sites to support this practice I have found on the web is listed above. This site allows you  to light a virtual candle, walk a labyrinth, speak with others on message boards, find uplifting readings, send a unique set of e-cards. The site is based on the work of a Christian monk, but this is more of a spiritual than a religious site.
    • Spirituality & Practice
      This free site (donations accepted & a gift shop available) provides a wealth of resources to help you develop an effective spiritual practice. These include descriptions of more than thirty essential practices, reviews of books, movies and audio tapes as well as e-courses taught by a wide variety of spiritual teachers.  There is a small fee charged for the e-courses.

Restful Meditative Music

Soothing music can help reduce anxiety, decrease pain and improve your meditation practice. You can have these on the background while you are going about your daily life as well. Internet sources of all kinds of music are available usually free of charge. Some stations broadcast ads or have banner ads. Registration and/or a low fee may also be requested. Look for choices that please you.

  • Live 365
    Live365 is a clearing house for hundreds of internet radio stations.
  • Meditation Music
    This is one of the stations on the site that is dedicated to music designed as a background to meditation.
  • Music for Healing
    This is a station of music designed to be used by healers and massage therapists, but is very relaxing as ambient music as well.

NUTRITION AND FOOD SITES

  • American Dietetic Association
  • The Cancer Nutrition Center
  • Tufts University Nutrition Navigator
  • The World’s Healthiest Foods
    This is a very useful website that focuses on 100 healthy foods. Full nutritional information as well as recipes and cooking demonstrations are on this site. Dietary suggestions are made for some common illnesses.
  • USDA National Nutrient Database
    An online searchable database that allows you to look up the nutrient value of many foods- including many name brands and prepared foods.
  • Fruits & Veggies More Matters- Recipe Page
    This website promotes consumption of more fruits & vegetables. Recipes can be located based either on category (soup etc) or by color (orange, red etc). There is also lots of other information about fruits & veggies on the rest of the website, including the proper storage of fruits & veggies.
  • Spark People
    A free diet, exercise and wellness site that will help you build a diet and exercise routine to achieve healthy weight goals. This is a complicated site with lots of features. It requires registering, but no fees are charged.

PAIN MANAGEMENT

  • American Academy of Pain Management
  • American Pain Society
  • Cancer-Pain.org
    This site is a collaborative effort between patients, caregivers and professionals and is dedicated to providing the most advanced cancer pain relief information. The aim is to help cancer patients receive the pain treatment they deserve. This valuable site helps clarify treatment issues.

Pet Care

RESEARCH AND CLINICAL TRIALS

Senior Living & Care

Support Groups

SURVIVORSHIP

  • Centers for Disease Prevention and Control — Survivorship
    CDC is working with national, state, and local partners to create and implement successful strategies to help the millions of people in the United States who live with, through, and beyond cancer.
  • Livestrong Foundation
    At the Livestrong Foundation, we unite people to fight cancer believing that unity is strength, knowledge is power, and attitude is everything.
  • National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship
    This is a strong organization dedicated to cancer survivorship. They are advocates for policy issues and have had impact on the definition and treatment of cancer survivors.
  • VITA Program – Restoring Life After Cancer
    The VITA Program at UCLA is one of the first clinical programs in the nation designed to meet the special health needs of cancer survivors. The Vita program is oriented toward restoring life after cancer and is part of the UCLA-LiveSTRONG™ Survivorship Center for Excellence.

TRANSPLANTS

YOUNG ADULTS

  • Stupid Cancer!
    National Cancer Advocacy, support and research group for young adults (18-39) with cancer.
  • Planet Cancer
    A gathering place for young adults, includes cancer comics, advice, cancertainment, news, current research and forums.

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