CompleteLife
The IU Simon Cancer Center's services that attend to the emotional, social, spiritual and physical needs of adult patients are referred to as the CompleteLife Program.
The goal of CompleteLife is to improve the well-being of individuals with cancer, their families and their community. Our team of experts provides comprehensive and compassionate care for the whole person that is therapeutic as well as complementary to conventional care. (See Support for Children for children coping with cancer.)
The services provided include activities of Support, Advocacy, and Empowerment:
Group Support
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Nutritional Consult
Psychological Counseling
Psychiatric Care
Social Work Services
Spiritual Care
as well as activities for Enrichment and Self-Care:
Apppearance Consultation
Artistic Expression
Massage Therapy
Mastestomy Fitting
Musical Experience
Oncology Pharmacy Consult
Table-top cancer information displays are presented monthly by the CompleteLife Program about timely topics of interest. Displays are located just outside elevators on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Indiana Cancer Pavilion for the convenience of patients, caregivers and staff.
For more information about the CompleteLife Program, please call Mary Lynn Hoffmann at (317) 278-4630.
The CompleteLife Program is sponsored in part by the Heroes Foundation and Debbie's Make You Smile Fund. If you’d like to make a contribution to help support the CompleteLife services, please make your gift payable to IU Foundation/CompleteLife Program and mail it to the IU Simon Cancer Center, c/o IU Foundation, P.O. Box 660245, Indianapolis, IN 46266-0245. Or call Amber Senseny at 317-278-4510 for more information.
Comprehensive support for cancer patients and their families
Daily life doesn't slow down for cancer.
Our services are here to help you maintain quality of life during and after treatment.
Cancer diagnosis and treatment poses an enormous life challenge. Cancer is a life-disrupting event and the CompleteLife Program - emphasizing the interrelationship between the mind, body and spirit - can provide you with the necessary support and education.
Most patients with cancer experience emotional responses of varying degrees. Cancer diagnosis, treatment, recurrence or side effects can all trigger depression, stress, anxiety or other mental and spiritual health concerns. The CompleteLife Program can help you maintain hope, learn coping strategies, develop decision-making skills and deal with the other challenges of cancer. The CompleteLife services complement one another and our providers work hand-in-hand to ensure your optimal supportive care.
Everyone facing a cancer diagnosis also has unique strengths and needs. The philosophy of our program is to assess the needs of each individual, build on their strengths, and provide them with the best available resources to help them successfully manage every stage of the cancer experience from diagnosis through treatment and survivorship. Some areas of our program, including psychiatric care and music therapy, help evaluate new methods of therapy and integrate the effective methods into the CompleteLife program and ultimately your comprehensive cancer care.
Why would my oncologist refer me to the CompleteLife Program?
Patient-Centered, Patient-Sensitive, Treatment Practices.
The CompleteLife Program is an important and unique feature of the comprehensive and multidisciplinary care available at the IU Simon Cancer Center. It means that your oncology team, committed to caring for your physical well-being, is also committed to caring for your whole being. Keenly attuned to the mind-body connection, they know that your mental and emotional health affects, and is affected by, your physical functioning.
In some instances, your oncology specialist or nursing staff will refer you to be seen by our providers. They may either ask us to contact you or ask you to call us for an appointment. The referral may be for a preventive or therapeutic visit. Sometimes it is the case that a recommended cancer treatment may have an impact on mental outlook and a preventive visit with one of our providers is vital to monitor this interaction. Even if this is not true in your case, your oncology team may refer you to our clinic for treatment or prevention of distress. You may also contact us directly to access our services.
Unless otherwise specified by our clients, we practice multidisciplinary support of patients by sharing information with the cancer care, including physicians and nurses.