70 YEARS OF ACTIVITY For Cancer Patients

Israel Cancer Association // Annual Report 2022

Barzilai Medical Center runs a special aquatic activity in the rehabilitation center. The ‘Steps to a Healthy Life’® project is managed and run by MSW Orit Spira , the ICA Rehabilitation and Support Department Director, RN Rina Dikhel , an oncology nurse and clinical expert in palliative care at the ICA, and RN Livia Kislev , Head Nurse of the ICA. The professional authority in charge of the ‘Steps to a Healthy Life®’ project and ICA advisor on a voluntary basis is Prof. Naama Constantini , an expert in family and sports medicine and Director of the Sports Medicine Center, Shaare Tzedek Medical Center. ICA ‘Survivors towards a Healthy Life’ ® Workshops This workshop includes six sessions aimed at improving survivors and their families’ quality of life, guide them in adopting healthy habits and support them in returning to a full, active life. The activity is designed for patients, survivors and their families, and is free of charge. The workshop includes lectures on the following topics: • Coping with side effects of the oncology treatments • Proper diet after coping with cancer • Intimacy and sexuality • A hands-on make up and beauty treatment workshop by ‘Look Good, Feel Better’® project • The effects of chemotherapy on memory • Emotional resilience when coping with cancer Survivors Towards a Healthy Life® workshops are run by MSW Orit Spira, Director of the Rehabilitation and Support Department at the Israel Cancer Association, with the help of the ICA’s regional social workers.

Thank you letters (the names are kept confidential by the ICA):

Our family is grateful to you for donating a wig for my mother who lives in Lithuania. I made Aliyah when I was 15 through the Na’ale program in 1999. Right now, my family and I reside in Tel Aviv. In August 2022, my mother collapsed due to a brain tumor. She is currently undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. Thank you! My mother is coping with breast cancer and we needed a wig for her. I would like to thank Linda for helping my mother find a fitting wig and for doing so with much love, patience, acceptance and special care. My mother came out from her session with Linda feeling very positive. We thank you wholeheartedly. ICA ‘Steps to a Healthy Life’® Project The Steps to a Healthy Life® project has been operating nationally since 2007. Its goal is to expose people who have suffered from cancer – adults, children, and their loved ones – the health benefits of physical activity, to encourage structured physical activity as part of one’s everyday routine, and to provide professional advice to those who opt to participate in the project. The program includes group training by licensed physiotherapists. The program runs in the oncology and hematology array of 19 medical centers across Israel, as well as in some gyno-oncology and radiation departments, and about 10,000 patients participated in it to date.

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