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Tool Kit: Thriving and Surviving with Cancer Self-Management Program

Tool Kit: Thriving and Surviving with Cancer Self-Management Program

Developed with the Self-Management Resource Center 


About The Thriving and Surviving with Cancer Self-Management Program

Congratulations! You have taken a big step toward managing your life with cancer. We are here to help.

Managing life with cancer is not easy. Cancer survivors want to have the best quality of life possible before, during, and after treatment. Dealing with physical and emotional problems can be challenging, especially when you are living with the uncertainties brought on by cancer, but you can do it! You can thrive!

This Tool Kit does not provide cures or miracles. Instead, it offers you information and skills that are helping cancer survivors lead fuller lives.

We hope that this Tool Kit contains most of what you need. We will not tell you what to do. Rather, we will give you tips and encourage you to try new things and to make the best choices for you. As with anything that is new, it may feel a bit awkward at first, but take it slow and easy. Try the different tools, then make corrections if necessary, to find what works best for you. Then over time, you will have your own set of tools to become better at managing your life.

So, let’s get started! The Tool Kit includes:

  1. - A booklet, which begins with a Self-Test that will help you decide where you want to focus. You might start by taking the Self-Test and then scoring it. Your scores will suggest places to start. It also contains Tip Sheets about specific topics that others have found key in managing their conditions, and illustrations to accompany the exercise audio program.

  2. - The latest edition of Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions written by experts in the field. Even more important—all the authors have chronic conditions.

  3. - A relaxation audio program with four different relaxation exercises. The first is only five minutes, for a quick start, and the others are about 15 minutes each.

  4. - An exercise audio program with three different levels of exercises, all of which can be done at home.

    We suggest that you spend a couple of hours a week learning and practicing the new skills. There is no right or wrong, so explore to find what works for you to manage better.

You can order Thriving and Surviving with Cancer Self-Management Program directly from us. We offer discounts of up to 40% on bulk orders. 

New Review: The Last Things We Talk About: Your Guide to End of Life Transitions

The Last Things We Talk About Your Guide to End of Life Transitions

Our book, The Last Things We Talk About: Your Guide to End of Life Transitions by Elizabeth Boatwright, is reviewed in the recent issue of the Society of Certified Senior Advisors Journal.

The review isn't available online, but we are thrilled to read that reviewer John "Skip" Frenzel, of Agape Long Term Care, uses the book in his work as a consultant. 

Among other things, Frenzel says the book is, "thorough and covers many details that are often overlooked . . . I strongly recommend it." 

More about The Last Things We Talk About: Your Guide to End of Life Transitions by Elizabeth Boatwright.

Starred review from Library Journal for The Last Things We Talk About: Your Guide to End of Life Transitions

The Last Things We Talk About: Your Guide to End of Life Transitions [cover]

We are thrilled to receive a starred review for The Last Things We Talk About: Your Guide to End of Life Transitions by Elizabeth Boatwright from Library Journal

 

An excerpt: "VERDICT Excellent in every way; recommended for all libraries, and readers facing end-of-life challenges."

cover

The full review is now available on the Library Journal website

Changes to the new 2nd Edition of Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain

Living a Healthy Live with Chronic Pain - cover

The new edition of Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain, 2nd Edition will be ready to ship on June 11, 2021

In this new second edition, the authors have carefully developed and improved every chapter.

Packed with useful advice, tips, strategies, and positive reinforcement, the book empowers readers to become their own informed pain self-managers. 

 

Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain

 

Highlights of the changes to this edition: 

  • - An updated and scientifically sound discussion of pain in Chapter 1 that gives readers the information they need to best manage their personal pain.

  • - An updated resources chapter with a useful emphasis on how to find and judge online resources.

  • - New more in-depth coverage of mental health issues related to pain, including depression, anger, fear, guilt, stress, and memory problems.

  • - An all-new chapter, Organizing and Pacing Your Life for Pain Self-Management and Safety that includes thorough, well-illustrated information on using assistive technology.

  • - Completely rewritten exercise chapters with clearer illustrations to help readers build their own exercise program, step-by-step. This chapter also discusses taking advantage of exercise opportunities in the community.

  • - An updated communication chapter to assist readers as they navigate through the health care system, featuring helpful tips on remote communication as well as in-person visits.

  • - Another all-new chapter, Managing Pain During Employment and Unemployment, sensitively addresses the issues connected with experiencing pain in the workplace.

  • - Two completely updated chapters on weight management and nutrition that discuss the relationship between pain and nutrition and reflect current government standards and the most recent research.

The Moving Easy Program audio is included with the book. 

 

Questions?

If you have questions about the new edition, sign up for a newsletter for updates or email Emily (emily@bullpub.com) for more information.

The Last Things We Talk About -- Our author Dr. Boatwright is a guest on The Financially Mindful Podcast

The Last Things We Talk About -- Our author Dr. Boatwright is a guest on The Financially Mindful Podcast

We are excited to be publishing The Last Things We Talk About by Elizabeth Boatwright, DMin, BCC-PCHAC, CFP®. 

 

book coverThe book will be available on April 6, 2021. 

The Last Things We Talk About gives readers and their loved ones the opportunity as death approaches to affirm, celebrate, and remember the people and experiences they cherish in life.

The author guides readers step-by-step through the process of making aging and death-related decisions. This includes defining personal values and wishes as well as planning for practical medical, financial, and legal considerations.

This book will help readers:

- Identify the people, experiences, and things that are important to them and help define and celebrate what gives life meaning and purpose

- Discover and define their goals and wishes regarding transitions, support, and the legacy they wish to leave behind

- Understand important topics such as legal, financial, and medical documents, the continuum of care, and end-of-life decisions

- Find professionals to help them put together inventories for financial, legal, and practical matters

- Explore options and plan for culturally and spiritually sensitive end-of-life rituals and celebrations

- Learn what needs to be done after death and how survivors can begin to piece their lives back together

 

Dr. Boatwright was recently a guest on the Financially Mindful Podcast. It's available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

 

The Financially Mindful Podcast - Episode Description

In this episode of The Financially Mindful Podcast, Reverend Libby Boatwright, Palliative and Outpatient Chaplain for Stanford Health Care and author of The Last Things We Talk About, shares her wealth of experience in end of life and legacy planning, touching on advanced directives, inventories, and legacy conversations. What is end of life planning? Where do I start? How can I help my family prepare financially for end of life?

These questions and more are answered in this episode of The Financially Mindful Podcast.

Dan is Founder and CEO of CanopyLife, a platform committed to building families’ financial resilience to deal with major life events. Dan founded CanopyLife after experiencing the financial and emotional cost of losing his dad to cancer, and wanting to help families avoid the same pitfalls. A Kellogg School of Management grad, Dan previously led new product development at Capital One and has nearly a decade of experience working in product development at startups focused on consumer, fintech and insurtech. In a prior life, Dan was a consultant at BCG and worked in Equities for Goldman Sachs and ABNAMRO.

Jim Grace is the Director of Wealth Management at Silver Pine Capital in Medfield, Massachusetts. ​Jim has more than a decade of experience in the financial services industry, leading Silver Pine’s financial planning and broader wealth management service offering. He has worked for MetLife and has managed for First Niagara (LPL Financial) and United Northeast Financial Advisors (Infinex Investments). He is father to two children.

About our Guest: Rev. Libby Boatwright is Chaplain for Outpatient Oncology Palliative Medicine for Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, California. With a financial planning certification, Dr. Boatwright desires to be a catalyst for fiscally responsible and sustainable change in care systems involving community, medical, and spiritual centers. She is the author of The Last Things We Talk About: Your Guide to End of Life Transitions, an upcoming book about figuring out what brings you meaning and purpose and how to plot a fiscally feasible path to get there.

Insight from this episode:Dr. Boatwright’s expert advice and recommendations for end of life planning, from the legal and practical to emotional and spiritual. Strategies to starting the end of life planning conversation with loved ones and deciding on the most appropriate plan.How to “have your house in order” and prepare for end of life and legacy planning before it is too late. Details on what needs to be taken care of first in the case of an unexpected medical event.

What to listen? Find it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Post from Kate Lorig: It is a new year with new hope. A time to look back and forward.

This post was first published on the Evidence-Based Leadership Collaborative website. 

___

Kate Lorig, DrPH 

 
Looking back none of us would have predicted that a pandemic would be added to the normal problems of aging. No one predicted that we would go months without seeing loved ones and friends. No one would have predicted that that within a month of the initial shut down in the spring beloved programs such PEARLS, Walk with Ease and the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program would be offered via Zoom or by phone. No one would have predicted that by the end of the year, most of the Evidence Based Programs including Matter of Balance, EnhanceFitness, Fit & Strong1 and HomeMeds would be offered or ready for remote delivery. To date more than 10,000 people had participated in these programs, pandemic, or not. Again, we have shown the agility of the aging community.
 
Even in the darkest hours there has been light. We now have many ways of offering many programs. This means that more people can attend. Some things have not changed.
 
First serving older people in communities where they live is key. Community agencies throughout the nation, although overwhelmed with serving their communities, have found the wherewithal to offer programs in their communities.
 
Second, we are learning that even with social distancing loneliness can be chased away and new friendships made. We have welcomed new programs. We receive letters from people attending remotely delivered programs.
 
Here is some of what they say:
 
“Just knowing that someone cared enough to have a program like this really touched my heart. This was what I needed to encourage me, to help myself.”
 
“I especially enjoyed the two break-out sessions we had. Gave us the opportunity to share with each other”
 
“I want to thank you for providing funding for this and other health related courses that if continued, would save millions in health-related costs to the Government.”
 
“This Zoom class was extremely helpful in setting a new path for better health. I would never have committed the time and effort to an in-person class. Being able to participate from my home was more than doable.”
 
And we move forward. We will not be anywhere near a new normal for many months. We will continue to social distance, wear masks, stay mostly in our homes. There is also a new thing we can do, get vaccinated. After ten months alone, ten months of worry, ten months of uncertainty, I am more than ready. For me, getting vaccinated is part of good self-management. At the same time, I understand the hesitancy and distrust of many. You are not bad, evil or ignorant. Everyone has a reason for their beliefs and actions.
 
For those of you who do not want to get a vaccination, I ask that you consider the risks with the benefits. If bad things were happening to the millions of people already vaccinated, we would know. It is hard to hide what is happening to that many people living all over the country. They represent every state, every race, every ethnicity, every age. They are us.
 
If you just don’t trust the vaccine, ask yourself if you trust yourself, your family, your friends, and your community to be safe without the vaccine? The vaccine will only allow you and the rest of us to return to normal when most of us are vaccinated. Then the disease cannot find a home in our home or our community.
 
If you are worried that we do not know enough, you are right. We do not know how long immunity will last, but even if it is a few months or years, in the meantime we will live, we will learn and if need be get vaccinated again. If you are worried about long term side effects of the vaccine, ask if the risk of the unknown is worth the possible long-term effects of the disease.
 
And so, we move forward. If you would like to attend an exercise, falls prevention, diabetes, pain, chronic disease, caregiver, depression management, behavioral health, or other healthy living program in the comfort of your own home, go to http://www.eblcprograms.org/evidence-based/map-of-programs/ and call the nearest organization offering programs. If they cannot help, call another organization in your state. Thanks so much to all our program leads who have worked so hard to move programs to virtual delivery.
 
Thanks so much to the wonderful community agencies who continued to offer programs in a very difficult time.
 
Most of all, thanks to all of you who participated in our programs and showed what was possible. Looking forward to seeing you in person or seeing you online. Elders and their wisdom lead the way.

Q&A: She teaches people with serious diseases how to help themselves

The Jewish News of Northern California interviewed our author Kate Lorig: 

Q&A: She teaches people with serious diseases how to help themselves

 

  • Excerpt: 

    J: It seems as if the self-management programs have grown organically from the first one you created at Stanford. What is the key to their success?

    Kate Lorig: People that attend like it and feel that they benefit, and we have pretty solid scientific evidence that these programs actually help people … and reduce health care costs. The programs can be given where people work and play in the community — from senior centers to park and recreation facilities.

 

Lorig and her co-authors have just published the new edition of Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions. Learn about the changes to the new edition

Changes to the new 5th Edition of Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions

The new edition of Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions is now ready to ship.

 

Changes in brief:

  • - Every chapter has been completely revised, updated, and carefully edited, often with the help of content specialists when required.

  • - Canadian content is now integrated throughout the book, eliminating the need for separate books. A change in format indicates content that is of particular interest to the Canadian audience.

  • - The book is accompanied by an all-new, topically-organized collection of further readings, useful websites, and other helpful resources organized by topic. The resources list is online at www.bullpub.com/resources.

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights of the changes to this edition: 

Chapter 1: Self-Management: What Is It and How Can You Do It?

  • - New Chronic Conditions Self-Test at the end of Chapter 1 helps readers identify their personal concerns and understand how best to apply the concepts in the book to their own lives.

Chapter 3: Finding Resources

  • - Updated content on using online resources to find the most reliable information.

Chapter 4: Understanding and Managing Common Conditions

  • - All-new Chapter 4 provides essential information about living with and managing the most common chronic illnesses such as lung disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and arthritis because across chronic conditions, self-management skills are more common than different. (In previous editions, these discussions were in separate chapters near the end of the book.)

Chapter 5: Understanding and Managing Common Symptoms and Emotions

  • - A new discussion at the end of Chapter 5 on the use and misuse of opioids by Beth Darnall, PhD, includes information about reducing use and tapering opioid medications.

Chapter 9: Freedom and Safety

  • - This new chapter on adaptive devices and creating a safe environment includes practical information about good body mechanics, exercises to reduce injury risks, modifying your home and surroundings, and using assistive technology to make activities easier and safer.

Chapter 10: Healthy Eating

  • - Completely revised and updated, this chapter now includes two helpful appendixes: Healthy Eating Plans for 1,600 and 2,000 Calories, and Food Groups for Meal Planning.

Chapter 13: Managing Your Treatment Decisions and Medications

  • - Now combines two topics that were addressed in separate chapters in past editions: treatment decisions and medications.

Chapter 14: Managing Diabetes

  • - Completely updated by expert contributors from both the US and Canada to reflect current information on monitoring blood glucose, healthy eating, and resources for people with diabetes.

Chapter 15: Working and Living with Chronic Conditions

  • - This new chapters covers work / life balance and managing work, as well as work issues relating to communication, physical activity, and eating well.


Other important things to note: 

  • - You will have an entire year to use the 4th edition books you may already have. Don’t worry about needing to upgrade immediately.
  • - If you have questions about the new edition, sign up for a newsletter for updates or email Emily (emily@bullpub.com) for more information.