The Healing Project is Pleased to Annouce the Launch of Voices Who Care Social Network

New Social Networking Website Connects Patients and Caregivers

The Healing Project is launching today Voices Who Care, an innovative social networking website for individuals dealing with life-threatening or chronic illnesses. This website is designed to connect the patient and caregiver communities by providing individuals with a forum where they can meet online.

Social networking sites have become an important online tool in our arsenal of interpersonal communication and relationships. Visits to social networking sites have increased almost 100% in the past year and people spend almost three times as much time on this type of website than at non-social networking sites.

Key features of the website include:
* Person-to-person search by disease category
* Individual pages including bios, blogs, photo galleries
* Email capabilities
* Community bulletin boards

As the site grows, additional functionality will be added to expand the utility of the site.

“The opportunity to connect with others through an online forum is necessary because it allows patients and caregivers to get support without the confines of the traditional in-person support group,” says founder of The Healing Project, Debra LaChance.

The Healing Project website currently includes a comprehensive Resource Center developed to ease the overwhelming process of web-based information search. The Healing Project Resource Center has been designed with the patient in mind, enabling easy and direct access to a wide variety of medical information as well as a database that includes organizations that provide low-cost or free health care services. Unlike traditional search engines, the website serves as a Personalized Patient Guide that offers professionally screened web pages as well as a tailored inventory of national, state and local resources.

Feel free to visit and join a community tailored to address the specific needs of Patients and Caregivers.

March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month

Head injury is commonly associated with falls and automobile accidents. In addition, a large cohort of new type of head trauma resulting from injuries suffered during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan Wars is being presented by its veterans (the number and extent of these injuries remains un-researched and unknown). The field of trauma research and rehabilitation demands our support.

Take some time this month to learn more about Brain Injury and its consequences.

How many people suffer from TBI?

Of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States:
50,000 die; 235,000 are hospitalized; and 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department.1

The number of people with TBI who are not seen in an emergency department or who receive no care is unknown.

What causes Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?

The leading causes of TBI are:
Falls (28%);
Motor vehicle-traffic crashes (20%);
Struck by/against (19%); and
Assaults (11%).
Source: BIA

War related head trauma - unknown

For More Information:
National Brain Injury Awareness Month
Brain Injury Association of America
8201 Greensboro Drive, Suite 611
McLean, VA 22102
(703) 761-0750
(703) 761-0755 Fax
info@biausa.org
http://www.biausa.org/
Materials available
Contact: Communications Coordinator

THP is Pleased to Announce Its President, Melissa Marr, Has Been Given The Distinguished Alumna Award By Columbia Women in Business

Melissa Marr, CBS ’02 (EMBA), President, The Healing Project, was presented with Twelfth Annual Distinguished Alumna Award by Columbia Women in Business (CWIB). The award ceremony was opened with remarks by Dean R. Glenn Hubbarb, Russell Carson Professor of Finance, Columbia University, Graduate School of Business. Following the ceremony, Melissa spoke to a sold-out audience of Columbia Business School students, faculty, administrators and alumnae about finding success on one's own terms. She concluded her presentation with an original short film that offered various perspectives on the meaning of success from the viewpoints of women representing a range of careers in the arts, film, media, finance, education and medicine.

Anyone who knows our president is aware of the diverse and radical career choices she has made over the years moving between the arts, film, technology and the not-for-profit sectors. She is a woman who has enjoyed considerable distinction while charting her own course. The presentation was made at The 15th Annual CWIB Conference held February 22, 2008 at Lerner Hall, Columbia University.

Our directors, scientific advisers, volunteers, staff and supporters are elated that Melissa's vision, drive, management skill and dynamic leadership has been recognized by such an illustrious organization as the CWIB and such a distingiushed institution as Columbia University.

Well done, Melissa.

The Healing Project would like to thank Dean Hubbarb, Columbia University, Columbia Business School and the CWIB for being such gracious hosts.

February 24 to March 1st is National Eating Disorders Week

The key message for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2008 – “Be comfortable in your genes. Wear jeans that fit the TRUE you.” – ties into NEDA's signature event, the Great Jeans Giveaway.

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week highlights the fact that body size and shape are strongly influenced by biological factors – such as genetics, while also calling attention to some of the new discoveries surrounding the role of genetics in the development of eating disorders.

The Healing Project would also like to note that while Eating Disorders Awareness are more common in females, males also suffer from eating and body dismorphic disorders. Keep an eye on your children, friends and roomates; there is help.

For More Information:
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week
National Eating Disorders Association
603 Stewart Street, Suite 803
Seattle, WA 98101
(800) 931-2239 Information and Referral Helpline
(206) 382-3587 Business Phone
(206) 829-8501 Fax
info@nationaleatingdisorders.org
http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/
Materials available
Contact: Tonia Brown

February 14th is National Donor Day

The shortage of donor organs continues unabated and the shortage of organ for minority recipients borders on tragic . While no consensus has been reached about offering positive incentives to increase participation, The Healing Project strongly encourages everyone to opt-in as an organ donor. It is the gift of life.

For more information:
National Donor Day

Division of Transplantation, Healthcare Systems Bureau

Health Resources and Services Administration

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Parklawn Building, Room 12C-055600

Fishers Lane

Rockville, MD 20857

(301) 443-7577

(301) 594-6095 Fax

ask@hrsa.gov

http://www.organdonor.gov/

Materials available

Contact: Division of Transplantation Staff

The Healing Project is pleased to present Writing for Life: Finding Your Healing Voice

The Healing Project is pleased to present Writing for Life: Finding Your Healing Voice, a creative writing therapy support group for breast cancer patients. The group will meet on Mondays, from 5:30-6:45pm, starting on February 18th, 2008, for a 4-week session. The group will take place at St. Vincent’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, 325 W. 15th St., (between 8th-9th Aves.), New York City, and will be facilitated by Alice Bergmann, second year MSW candidate at Stony Brook University and intern with The Healing Project. Theresa Russell, LCSW and VP of Development at The Healing Project will supervise.

The objective of this face-to-face support group is to help facilitate the processing of feelings through written expression. The goal is to help survivors achieve an increase in hopefulness and strength as they use a “new voice” to reframe their cancer experience.

This class in particular is open to SVCCC patients. In order to register, all interested participants must telephone Alice Bergmann at 917-621-7392.

The Healing Project wishes to thank St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center for graciously hosting this pilot program.

Feburary is National Chidlren's Dental Health Month

Creating Oral Health Awareness

Each February, the American Dental Association sponsors National Children’s Dental Health Month to raise awareness about the importance of oral health.

Developing good habits at an early age and scheduling regular dental visits helps children get a good start on a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums.

National Children’s Dental Health Month

American Dental Association

211 East Chicago AvenueChicago, IL 60611

(312) 440-2500

publicinfo@ada.org

http://www.ada.org/prof/events/featured/ncdhm.asp
Materials availableContact: Department of Public Information

February is American Heart Month

February is American Heart Month

Cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, are our nation's No. 1 killer. To urge Americans to join the battle against these diseases, since 1963 Congress has required the president to proclaim February "American Heart Month."

The American Heart Association works with the administration to draft and sign this annual proclamation. During American Heart Month, thousands of our volunteers visit their neighbors. Their goal is to raise funds for research and education and pass along information about heart disease and stroke.

The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is: "Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke."

The association's impact goal is to reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and risk by 25 percent by 2010. Progress toward the goal will be measured according to these indicators:

1. Reduce the death rate from coronary heart disease and stroke by 25 percent.


2. Reduce the prevalence of smoking, high blood cholesterol and physical inactivity by 25 percent.


3. Reduce the rate of uncontrolled high blood pressure by 25 percent.


4. Eliminate the growth of obesity and diabetes.

For more Information
American Heart Month
American Heart Association
7272 Greenville Avenue
Dallas, TX 75231
(800) 242-8721
mailto:inquires@heart.orgwww.americanheart.org
http://www.americanheart.org/
Materials availableContact: Program departments or local chapters

Voices of Alzheimer's Named One the Best Consumer Books By Library Journal

In case you haven't heard:

Voices of Alzheimer's named one of the best consumer health books of 2007 by Library Journal: Voices of Alzheimer's: The Healing Companion; Stories for Courage,Comfort, and Strength. LaChance Publishing. (Voices of). 258p. ed. by The Healing Project. ISBN 978-1-934184-01-1. pap. $16.95. (LJ 5/1/07)

In Inside Alzheimer's, clinical social worker Pearce guides caregivers toward meaningful connection with patients. Including stories and case histories, she finishes with exercises for "working it out." Edited by a nonprofit organization that supports those living with chronic and life-threatening illness, Voices of Alzheimer's collects 40 stories bypeople touched by Alzheimer's: patients, friends, family members, and caregivers. Readers get firsthand views into the way families and professionals cope with the disease. Both books feature resource lists.