Mind-Body-Spirit News
To tap into additional clients, mind-body fitness and wellness professionals may want to offer services to organizations that support cancer survivors. More than 60% of cancer survivors use complementary medicine, including mind-body practices, according to a recent study by the American Cancer Society. The most widely used form of complementary medicine is prayer/spiritual practice.
Other popular practices are relaxation (44.3%), faith/spiritual healing (42.4 %), use of nutritional supplements/vitamins (40.1%), nonreligious meditation (15%), religious counseling (11.3%), massage (11.2%) and support groups (9.7%). All methods were more popular among women than men. For example, 10.1% of women used tai chi/yoga or therapeutic touch, compared with only 1.9% of men.
These results are based on a study of 4,139 cancer survivors surveyed 10–24 months after diagnosis. The findings were published in Cancer (2008; 113, 1048–57).