UC Health Integrative Medicine Now Offering Services in Barrett Cancer Center

Cincinnati—UC Health Integrative Medicine services will now be offered the Barrett Cancer Center on the Clifton campus, expanding services to not only UC Cancer Institute patients and their caregivers but also to the Cincinnati community as a whole.

Massage therapy, acupuncture, reflexology, acupressure—which targets the same pressure points as acupuncture only without needles—and National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) auricular acupuncture will be offered.

The NADA acupuncture protocol has strong research support as being beneficial for smoking cessation and anxiety reduction in addition to other conditions.

"We will be starting out initially with one room on the second floor of the Barrett Center during weekdays,” says Sian Cotton, PhD, University of Cincinnati associate professor of family and community medicine and director of the UC Center for Integrative Health and Wellness and UC Health Integrative Medicine, adding that providers hope to begin integrative physician consults in July. "Anyone is welcome to use these services.”

Additionally, Cotton says the hope is to eventually offer massage and acupuncture in the chemotherapy infusion room for patients and their family members during the treatment process.

"These integrative techniques have been shown to help with relaxation and ease nausea, a common side effect of chemotherapy,” she says. "Also, the pain and stress related to the condition can also be relieved with certain integrative techniques.

"In addition to improving patients’ coping, we hope to assist caregivers and employees and staff, as these roles can also be very stressful. It’s important for everyone to take care of themselves so that they can, in turn, provide the best care for their loved ones or the patients they care for.

"We are very excited to expand our services to the Cincinnati area and hope to improve the outcomes and quality of life of not only patients living with cancer and their caregivers but also other interested Tristate residents.”

The UC Health Barrett Cancer Center is located at 234 Goodman Ave. Services will be offered in Pod C within the breast cancer suite. No referral is needed for any of these services.

Schedule:

• 8 a.m.–noon, Mondays: Reflexology, Acupressure and NADA protocol with Judith Morey, RN, ND.

• 1–4:30 p.m., Wednesdays, and 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Fridays: Massage therapy with Joyce Cowens, LMT.

• 1–5:30 p.m., Thursdays: Acupuncture and NADA protocol with Martyn Thomas, Dipl. Ac.

*Services are by appointment only.