TLC Holistic Health Foundation is dedicated to teaching and administering massage therapy-hand & back massage, guided imagery and energy work.
Introduction
We are the only nonprofit in the nation teaching all the family members how to give and exchange our TLC therapeutic massage techniques with each other. We are dedicated to empowering all the family members to take into their own hands helping to fulfill each other’s' physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Furthermore, whenever possible and appropriate, we teach the challenged child how to give, exchange our techniques, and to perform our self-applied healing techniques.
We developed an innovative, easy-to-learn, easy-to-remember, fun and upbeat story line that accompanies learning massage strokes: Back Massage (clothes on), Hand and Arm Massage, Nurturing Holds and the Smiling Heart Guided Visualization. These techniques can be taught to families through demonstration without directly giving the techniques to the challenged child nor do they need to be present.
At our website at www.tlchhf.org, everyone can view/download for free our 28-page teaching booklet. We have “testimonials and benefits” of both receiving and giving therapeutic massage on our site and/or in our booklet. On our homepage click on Twelve Ways of Giving and Receiving Caring to view additional benefits. Our project is cost effective in that we will use community and college/university volunteers who receive five units of elective academic credit to give/teach families our techniques. This model can be easily duplicated with sustainable ongoing volunteers.
We had an article published on our program in the ChiPPS Pediatric Palliative Care Newsletter
Issue #29; November 2012 which is released in conjunction with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. The title is “Learn Healing Touch and Holistic Health Games: Life-Changing, Therapeutic, Fun, Free” which is available to read on our home page in upper left hand corner at www.tlchhf.org.
The Need
No one likes to think of a child being in pain, let alone having anxiety or depression. For all cancer patients, especially pediatric cancer patients, even just a little relief can mean a lot. In general, about a third of all cancer patients experience significant pain.
Parents of a child with a life-limiting/chronic illness are often not aware of the scientific research proving the significant benefits that will occur when they give their own child therapeutic massage on a regular basis. Nor until now has there been any cost-effective way to teach this skill to parents/caregivers on a large scale even though research has found they would eagerly give therapeutic massage if they knew how. Also parents are not aware of the research proving the significant benefits they themselves receive by giving their child massage.
Families with an ill or challenged child often cannot afford to pay for a professional massage therapist, much less for their child to regularly receive massage therapy. Until now, challenged children had no access to learn self-healing guided visualization or self-massage techniques that can be applied anytime anywhere to combat feeling isolated or depressed. When a challenged child gives back our techniques to their loved ones, he or she becomes empowered, resulting in increased self-esteem, self-worth, connectedness and joy. This is similar to research proving the significant benefits that parents experience from giving massage to their child.
How it Works and Who we Serve for Free
Research has proven that massage therapy can ease both physical symptoms, as well as emotional discomforts associated with pediatric medical conditions. Multiple published studies provedmassage alleviates pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression in pediatric clients. Massage is one of the most commonly used pain management strategies for pediatric patients newly diagnosed with leukemia. During massage, levels of feel-good neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine spike, oxytocin (nurturing, cuddle hormone) is increased, while measures of the stress hormone cortisol drop. Massage can be just the supportive therapy an ill child needs. Often these interventions produce long-lasting improvement.
Tiffany Field the director of the Touch Research Institute has conducted over 100 studies on the positive effects of massage therapy on many functions and medical conditions in many different age groups. Among the significant research findings are diminished pain, decreased autoimmune problems, and enhanced immune function (e.g., increased natural killer cells in HIV and cancer). Many of these effects appear to be mediated by decreased stress hormones. Fields studied twenty children with leukemia who were provided daily massage therapy by their parents for 30 days and were compared to a standard treatment control group. Following a month of massage therapy, depressed mood decreased in the children's parents, and the children's white blood cell and neutrophil counts increased.
Your funding will serve for general operating expenses to continue and expand our free services. Thanks to dedicated volunteers, our ongoing project will expand our free services in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, which provided the following complimentary services: 1) Seventy families in San Francisco, CA at the Koret House (identical to a Ronald McDonald House). They provide temporary housing to families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. 2) Taught the TLC Back Massage to 850+ ill children (plus their parents and siblings) at Camp Arroyo in Livermore, CA. Children there had cancer; were cancer survivors; had HIV (children and teen camps); brain tumors; autism; learning disabilities; celiac disease; deafness and more. 3) We are presently planning to offer services at the Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Salinas Children’s cancer ward in Salinas, CA. 4) Trained existing Hospice volunteers at a child an adult hospices. Previously we served 80 children and taught parents to give therapeutic massage to their child in respite care and end of life care at the George Mark Children’s House, a Children’s Hospice in San Leandro, CA.
We are planning and looking for funding for the TLC Holistic Health Film Project to produce a fun and highly entertaining teaching video on our TLC HHF techniques for distributing nationally for free. The video would serve children (and all family members) with life-limiting/chronic illnesses at: hospitals (on their closed circuit TV) clinics, hospices, camps and nonprofits that presently serve these populations, including cancer survivors and siblings. By partnering with the multitude of present nonprofits serving children and adults with serious limiting/chronic illnesses and their families we will make a major impact by reaching people nationally. We presently have an Advisory Board Member of TLC HHF who presently serves on the board of directors of Starlight Children’s Foundation in Los Angeles, CA. They have in place 8,500 “Fun Center” Mobile Entertainment Units in hospitals worldwide. Additionally we will approach the Troy Aikman Foundation (as well as other foundations) who funds “Child Life Zones” which are therapeutic play areas in pediatric hospitals.
Our mission is to instruct both families living with limiting chronic illness, as well as healthy families, how to give TLC HHF techniques. In addition, we strive to teach how to exchange those techniques with family and friends. Our ultimate mission is to empower everyone to improve each others quality of life.
TLC HHF is a non-profit 501(c)3. Our present fiscal sponsor is Shared Adventure with the IRS tax ID number 77-0366565. We can offer a tax deduction for all donations either cash or in kind.
On our website at www.tlchhf.org is our free Teaching Booklet. On our home page Click onTLC HHF Techniques. This booklet has fun, easy to learn TLC techniques for all ages including: TLC Back Massage, TLC Hand Massage, TLC Nurturing Holds and TLC Guided Imagery. You are welcome to share how to access this booklet with all of your family and friends.
