Greet The Day

Helping make the experience of cancer treatment better.

WE HAVE CHANGED THE EXPERIENCE OF CANCER TREATMENT

Helping people live better and feel their best through their cancer journey.

Clinical research shows that massage therapy reduces anxiety and pain, can reduce neuropathy and fatigue, and promotes relaxation and feelings of well-being.

Greet The Day therapists provide hospital-based massage in infusion center and inpatient settings in multiple cancer centers, improving patients’ quality of life and clinical care experience by providing research-based integrative care for the seriously ill, at no cost to the patient.

Comforting massage provided onsite at the cancer treatment center is a reminder that the body can find relief and comfort in spite of the anxiety, uncertainty and discomfort experienced during the routine course of treatment.

Our programs have made services of this type a reality in many cancer treatment centers, and we are available to help guide you in establishing a hospital-based Infusion Center or Inpatient Massage program in your cancer patient community.

Patient Testimonials

I would have oncology massage again tomorrow. On a daily basis if I could. It really helps me.
Irvine Douglas Hospital, University of California, Irvine
This massage helped me tremendously. It helped with the anxiety and the discomfort in my legs. A huge thank you!
Irvine Douglas Hospital, University of California, Irvine
The massage is so very helpful for me. It has made a tremendous difference to my hospital stay and how my body is able to rest and recover. I would like to have massage anytime it's available here.
Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Long Beach, CA
Thank you so much for the massage, it was very calming and relaxing. I wish all of my hospital stays could have been like this.
Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, Fountain Valley, CA
I am 48 years old and have chronic back pain and was severely uncomfortable in the hospital bed and taking Norco. My back was hurting really bad. Then in came a massage therapist into my room named Sarah and helped my body feel better and more comfortable.
Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, Fountain Valley, CA
This program is amazing for the patients to be able to less anxious while away from their home and families. It really helps a patient to relax if their diagnosis is not good. I believe this program is amazing. It’s like there’s hope and light at the end of a dark day.
Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, Fountain Valley, CA
I asked the nurse for Atavan as a way to deal with anxiety and that helped in its own way, but pharmaceutical products tend to take you away from yourself. Ruth's massage technique had a way of opening secret little doors of peace and strength inside me and I would later call upon my memory of the infusion center massage when I was strapped to the radiation table.
JOHN TREATED AT ST. JOSEPH HOSPITAL OF ORANGE, CALIFORNIA
So nice to have someone enter the room to provide comfort and a welcomed diversion from all of the invasive procedures. Many thanks!
MOORES CANCER CENTER, SAN DIEGOHospital day 10 for Patient. Pain level before massage 5 - Pain level after massage 2
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Greet The Day massage and skin care therapists work in medical centers nationwide, and are on staff in five southern California cancer treatment centers including three University of California cancer treatment centers.

This represents a remarkable change in cancer patient care in southern California where as recently as 2012 no massage was available for hospitalized patients.

Benefits of hospital-based massage therapy the role of massage in integrative care
 
  • Effective in reducing/managing pain and anxiety.
  • A non-medicinal / non-pharmacological way of addressing patient pain and anxiety.
  • Helps patients feel better even when they are not feeling well.
  • It’s a comfort touch, not a procedural or clinical touch.
  • Comfort-oriented touch is a reminder that the body can feel good even when it’s not feeling well.
  • HBMT is a non-invasive, non-clinical, non-pharmacological comfort oriented intervention which is often in short supply in a stressful clinical environment.
  • Eases pain and anxiety and may also help patients sleep, eat and tolerate their hospital treatments better.
  • Can improve the patients experience of medical treatment and the hospital-experience for patients and their family.
  • Safe comfort-oriented touch to help ease pain and anxiety in the midst of a most challenging time.
  • Also a good way for patients to feel like a whole person and not just diseased parts.
  • Support medical staff in their patient care by being an intervention tool for them.

 

Massage is endorsed by the Joint Commission as an effective non-pharmacological intervention in the management of pain.

Inpatient Massage Pilot Program Sponsors

Greener Pastures Charitable Foundation provided seed funding in 2012 for UCI’s adult inpatient massage pilot program.

The Tobin Family supported Greet The Day for many years, and for three years were the primary sponsors for the adult inpatient massage programs offered at UCI, LBMMC and OCMMC.

During 2014 and 2015 the Miller Family provided funding for pediatric inpatient massage therapist training.

Infusion Center Massage Program Support

The support of Greet The Day donors, and the mission-related earned income from Greet The Day’s professional education programs.

The thousands of hours of time contributed by our professionally licensed, oncology massage accredited volunteer therapists during the first 10-years of program delivery who believed that the experience of cancer treatment could, and should, include research-based integrative care massage.