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what is pillars4life?
Pillars4Life
Compassion Community
A social networking portal for people with cancer and other chronic and life-threatening illnesses that brings patients together with everyone who cares about them in an online community focused on getting the support you need and showing that you care.
Pillars4Life
Recovery System
The central component of the Pillars4Life Compassion Community is the Pillars4Life Recovery System:
The online coping-skills training program that utilizes web-based “Virtual Training Groups” and
Certified Pillars4Life Trainers to teach our evidence-based curriculum to patients and caregivers.
how does it work?
how do we know?
Patients come together in Virtual Training Groups either via phone or video conference (their choice) and are guided through a nine-week coping skills training course by a specially-trained social worker – all from the comfort of their own home.
This is NOT your typical support group. Each session lasts one hour and fifteen minutes and is a highly structured, solution-focused, psycho-educational experience that teaches patients concrete tools for living fully in the presence of illness and empowers them to become proactive in navigating the cancer journey.
In a clinical trial at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2008, patients who participated in an earlier, face-to-face version of the program (then known as Pathfinders), perceived their quality-of-life as improved across a range of symptoms including distress, despair, helplessness, hopelessness and fatigue – in spite of the fact that their disease was progressing.
Pillars4Life takes the same standardized curriculum and teaches it in Virtual Training Groups giving patients the added benefit of broadening their network of support while learning the powerful skills of the program.
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LIVESTRONG | 
LIVESTRONG COMMUNITY IMPACT PROJECT
We could not be more pleased to announce that Pillars4Life is the proud recipient of a LIVE STRONG Community Impact Project Grant!
By receiving this grant, Pillars4Life is able to implement our leading edge program
into 20 hospitals in the United States. Application to be among these chosen few
is closed. For your future information, here 's how the program works:
Submit your application
If chosen, your hospital goes to the voting stage* at which time, you would mobilize voters in your community! Vote takes place at www.LIVE STRONG .org.
If your hospital wins the vote, you then choose the social worker who is to be certified and send her/him to the Pillars4Life trainings
While the social worker is trained, you educate your staff about the program and begin recruiting patients AND their family caregivers for participation in the program.
Your hospital allocates 3.5 hours/week of the social worker’s time to running 2 Pillars4Life Groups each Quarter for the next year. There are 12 participants/group, so for .0875 FTE your social worker will serve 96 patients and/or caregivers over the year.
* CLICK HERE
to learn more about
the Voting Process!
FAQ | FAQ
Why should your hospital utilize Pillars 4 Life?
Improve the quality-of-life of your patients and their families. Improve your patients" satisfaction with their experience at your hospital. Take the burden of psychosocial issues off of the medical team. Help your social work department become more efficient. How does Pillars 4 Life improve the quality-of-life of patients and their families?
In a clinical trial at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2008 patients who participated in an earlier, face-to-face
version of the program (called Pathfinders) perceived their quality-of-life as improved across a range of symptoms including
distress, despair, helplessness, hopelessness and fatigue in spite of the fact that their disease was progressing.
How does Pillars 4 Life improve patients satisfaction with their experience at the hospital?
National attention was drawn to the broad-ranging effects of cancer and to unmet psychosocial needs by a seminal
Institute of Medicine (IOM) report in 2008, which stated that: 1
"The remarkable advances in biomedical care for cancer have not been matched by achievements in providing high-quality care for the psychological and social effects of cancer. Numerous cancer survivors and their caregivers report that cancer care providers did not understand their psychosocial needs, failed to recognize and adequately address depression and other symptoms of stress, were unaware of or did not refer them to available resources, and generally did not consider psychosocial support to be an integral part of quality cancer care."
Pillars4Life makes providing patients help with their psychosocial needs affordable and feasible. And patients appreciate that they don't have to make another trip to the hospital, but can get the help they need from the comfort of their own home.
How does Pillars 4 Life take the burden of psychosocial issues off of the medical team?
Pillars4Life teaches an evidence-based curriculum of skills for self-assessment and self-care that empower patients and their caregivers to access resources (both internal and external) for getting their psychosocial needs met. Patients learn skills for optimizing their communication with their medical team and adhering to their treatment regimens. They also get support from a highly-trained professional and a safe venue for discussing the challenging issues that can arise during cancer treatment.
How does Pillars 4 Life help your social work department become more efficient?
Pillars4Life is a group model where one social worker works with 12 patients and/or caregivers at a time. Patients learn to self-assess and become proactive in accessing the resources they need. This allows the social worker to assist the majority of patients with the efficiency of the group, while freeing up time to attend to those patients who need additional one-on-one support.
Is Pillars 4 Life for patients only or is it for their families too?
Pillars4Life was designed to support both patients and their family caregivers. It is up to hospitals and their social workers to decide whether to run patient-only groups, caregiver-only groups or mixed groups.
Who is eligible to become a Certified Pillars 4 Life Trainer?
Only people with a masters degree or higher in some form of counseling, psychology or social work are eligible to become Pillars4Life Trainers and facilitate Pillars4Life groups.
Does the training to become a Pillars 4 Life Trainer provide any Continuing Education Credits?
Pillars4Life Trainers earn 50 CEU credits over the course of the training: 25 for the 4-day Level One training and 25 for the 4-day Level Two training.
Where will the trainings be held and how many days of work will need to be missed?
The trainings will be held in a city to be determined once the 20 sites have been chosen. An effort will be made to a centrally located city. The trainings will begin on Thursday morning and end on Sunday afternoon, so two days of work will be missed for each.
How must time must a social worker allocate to Pillars 4 Life Groups?
The Livestrong Community Impact Project is providing funding for two Pillars4Life Groups per quarter for one year with a total of eight groups per site. Social workers must allocate 3.5 hours per week or .0875 FTE to run the groups and participate in virtual group supervision. Groups are one hour and fifteen minutes long with fifteen additional minutes scheduled for notes and follow-up.
During the first four months of the project while social workers are being trained and through the course of their first nine-week group, they will participate in one hour of virtual group supervision via video converence each week. During months five through 12 they may drop-in to flexibly scheduled groups for a total of two hours each month.
1 Institute of Medicine. Cancer Care for the Whole Person: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2008. Available at: http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3809/34252/47228.aspx
Pill MEDIA | The Media
LIVE STRONG ® Offers Funding to Hospitals, Cancer Centers and Nonprofits Deadline to Apply Is February 15, 2012
AUSTIN, TX -- (Marketwire) — 01/23/12 — LIVE STRONG is pleased to announce the opening of the Foundation's 2012 Community Impact Project.
The simple application allows people to potentially fund up to four evidence-based programs within their community that would better the lives of those affected by cancer. Funded programs will support thousands of people both during and post treatment, along with their families.
The 2012 Community Impact Project will offer nearly $1.4 million in implementation awards to 90 selected applicants including hospitals, cancer centers, university organizations and community-based organizations. The awards will fund the replication of four programs selected for their proven ability to provide necessary programming and support to those affected by cancer. This represents the largest number of financial awards LIVE STRONG has granted in a single year in the history of the Foundation. LIVE STRONG is the brand of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, created in 1997 by the cancer survivor and champion cyclist to serve people living with cancer and empower communities to take action.
The programs selected for 2012 replication are:
• The Creative Center -- Hospital Artist-in-Residence Program: Since its inception in 1994, The Creative Center has been dedicated to bringing the arts to people with cancer, chronic illness and through all stages of life as a way to help them discover their own creative resources while meeting the challenges of diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. The Artist-in-Residence program helps cancer survivors deal with the stresses of treatment through artistic expression. The program will work bedside and in small group settings with men, women and children -- in oncology units, bone marrow transplant units, intensive care/respiratory units, hospice and palliative care programs.
• LIVE STRONG at the YMCA: LIVE STRONG at the YMCA is a research-based program that offers people affected by cancer a safe, supportive environment to participate in physical and social activities focused on strengthening the whole person. Participants work with Y staff trained in supportive cancer care to achieve their goals such as building muscle mass and strength; increasing flexibility and endurance; and improving confidence and self-esteem.
• Advanced Certification for Palliative Care: The Joint Commission's Advanced Certification for Palliative Care is designed to set standards and acknowledge hospitals providing state-of-the-art palliative care services that relieve symptoms and stress of serious illness and improve quality of life for patients. The Center to Advance Palliative Care will provide tools and training to 20 hospitals and cancer centers across the country to assist in their efforts to qualify for the Certification.
• Pillars4Life: Pillars4Life is a patient/caregiver support program that has been proven to enhance quality of life for cancer patients and allows hospitals and their social workers to more efficiently triage and attend to the psychosocial needs of a much greater number of patients.
Organizations chosen to implement one of the model programs will receive up to $15,000 to support the implementation. They will also receive a toolkit consisting of facilitator manuals, participant materials and evaluation forms; training and support from the model program's staff; access to additional LIVE STRONG tools and resources; and a full report on the historical replication of this program upon completion.
The financial awards provided by the 2011 LIVE STRONG Community Impact Project are currently being implemented at more than 100 sites including hospitals, cancer centers, universities, and community-based organizations across the nation and will provide support to thousands of people affected by cancer upon completion. LIVE STRONG is committed to supporting community organizations in their efforts to help cancer survivors face the challenges and changes that come with cancer and has invested more than $70 million in community-centered organizations.
About LIVE STRONG /Lance Armstrong Foundation
LIVE STRONG serves people affected by cancer and empowers them to take action against the world's leading cause of death. Created as the Lance Armstrong Foundation in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, the organization is now known publicly by its powerful brand -- LIVE STRONG -- and is a leader in the global movement on behalf of 28 million people around the world living with cancer today. Originating with the iconic yellow wristband, LIVE STRONG has become a symbol of hope and inspiration to people affected by cancer around the world. Since its inception, the organization has raised $450 million for the fight against cancer. For more information, visit LIVE STRONG .org.
Pill VOTING The Voting Process
With over a decade of experience funding community-based organizations, we know that to create a sustainable program there must be broad community support and engagement. With that in mind we created the online voting component of the Community Impact Project to allow applicants to demonstrate their ability to engage with their community and constituents.
Applicants in all 50 states, along with Puerto Rico and Washington DC, are divided into 8 regions prior to voting based on population. Major population centers are divided amongst the regions to enable states with lower populations to have equal footing with their more populated neighbors.
The funds to implement the Model Programs are divided across the regions based on number of applications received from that region, population and the target populations of the applicants. Ultimately the two applicants with the highest number of votes in each region will receive funding to implement the Model Program they've applied for, the remaining available grants will be disbursed to the highest vote getters nationally that follow the highest two in each region, no matter which region they may be in.
During the first Community Impact Project in 2010, 300 organizations applied for the 3 Model Programs. In 2011, over 400 organizations applied for the 4 Model Programs offered. Through 2010 and 2011 we saw over 700,000 votes cast from communities nationwide. As a result, we funded programs in states that had never received funding from LIVE STRONG' s Community Program before and provided the largest support weve ever offered to organizations supporting people affected by cancer in rural communities.
If you have any questions relating to the voting process, the Community Impact Project, LIVE STRONG or would like to suggest a program please email us at Community_LIVE STRONG .org.
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