Volunteer at Dana-Farber
Opportunities
Hand massager soothes patients' souls
Volunteer hand massager Polly Cummings eases the stress of Renee Wolff as she receives chemotherapy.
She uses her thumb first and applies pressure to the top of the hand as her fingers cup around the palm. After a few strokes she starts to fan out across the whole span of the hand. As she maneuvers down each finger, slowly tugging and pressing, the tension starts to dissipate.
"The women see me and put their hands right out," says Polly Cummings, a Hands-on-Care massage volunteer. "With the men, I always have to pull their arm a bit to give it a try. But now I have a bunch of what I call 'converts.' They see me come in and start to smile."
Cummings spends several hours each Monday at the Clinical Research Center on the second floor of the Jimmy Fund Building offering hand rubs to patients. Her inviting personality has helped create a cadre of loyal clients. The Newton resident started volunteering at the Institute two years ago after her husband, who was receiving treatment here for bladder and prostate cancer, passed away. She initially volunteered with Patient/Family Relations, asking and answering many people's questions. Cummings loves giving back to Dana-Farber, and finds that massaging lets her reach patients on a more personal level.
"It's nice when you can be with a patient and can put your hand on theirs and provide comfort. They have so much going on, and it lets them start to relax."
Hands-on-Care is a collaboration between Volunteer Services, the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies, and Nursing and Patient Care Services. The program is seeking more volunteers as it rolls out its massage services to the Dana 1 clinic. For more information, call (617) 632-3307 or e-mail volunteerservices@dfci.harvard.edu.
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— Cindy Hutter
cindy_hutter@dfci.harvard.edu
