Learning how to adapt your services for individuals living with or beyond cancer may become one of your most used frameworks. The health status of the world combined with an aging population are two of the underlying reasons becoming trained to cater to clients with cancer in the spa is one of the top trends in the wellness industry.
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Learning how to adapt your services for individuals living with or beyond cancer may become one of your most used frameworks. The health status of the world combined with an aging population are two of the underlying reasons becoming trained to cater to clients with cancer in the spa is one of the top trends in the wellness industry.
Statistics show that one in two individuals will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. The graph from the National Cancer Institute on the next page reinforces the understanding that your spa already has clients touched by cancer. Specifically, the age at cancer diagnosis mirrors the typical age of clients and wellness seekers, with 50% aged 30 to 66.
Spas and wellness centers are evolving to become more inclusive without ostracizing, stereotyping or collectively grouping individuals by offering the “oncology” service. The ability to address and adapt services and programs for individuals requires more sensitivity and finesse.
As the wellness industry emphasizes more personalization, it does not seem sensible nor practical to have one menu for healthy clients and another for those with a disease or chronic illness. When we label, we limit thoughts and beliefs about what we think a person is capable of receiving.
People diagnosed with cancer are not all the same. What happens when a person has more than one condition? Or if someone is living with metastatic (incurable) cancer—can they only receive “the cancer massage” for the rest of their life?
Individuals living with or touched by cancer are not a demographic. They are just as unique as any other human—each with their own set of wellness preferences. Cancer is only a part of someone’s whole life; it does not define them as a person or their wellness choices. This is an important distinction that the wellness industry is learning and adopting.
If the medical industry can personalize medical treatments for cancer, surely the spa industry can adapt any of its services for cancer (and many other conditions). With this in mind, here are four areas that can be tailored and allow us to better support our clients.
Skin Health
Medical cancer treatments often create adverse side effects to the skin, which can impact health-related quality of life. Although most patients report mild to moderate skin health changes, the level of psychological distress and impact on their quality of life is reported to be significant.
While research on aesthetic interventions is limited, skin care treatments show promise in supporting well-being by reducing the perceived skin health symptoms, and thereby increasing positive emotions related to self-perception and relationships with others.
When considering which products to use during treatments, it is best to check with your existing brand partners to see if they have information or research on hand that shows how their products perform, or if they have created any negative skin reactions. Staying within one line is recommended, as products are often meant to work together; mixing or “cocktailing” products across lines can also create untested compounds.
Massage Therapy
Oncology massage is an approach to massage therapy that is based in compassion and specialized adaptations to help individuals manage their cancer experience. The benefits of oncology massage are well documented and include helping individuals relax; making them feel supported; improving sleep quality and immune function; and reducing anxiety, pain, fatigue and nausea.
You can elect to focus on massage in spa, therapeutic or clinical settings. Therapeutic and clinical will require additional training in areas like shoulder rehabilitation, scar tissue adhesion and working in infusion centers.
Yoga
More common than not, yoga is thought of as postures (asana) or characterized as mindful movement. But it is so much more. It is a system that is meant to be incorporated into daily life, not an occasional class. Yoga works on all aspects of the individual, with physical, vital, mental, emotional and spiritual components.
The word yoga means “unity” or “oneness.” On a practical level, yoga is a means of balancing and harmonizing the body, mind and emotions. As a system, yoga utilizes asana, breathwork, concentration and meditation to help an individual reconnect with themselves.
Yoga has increasingly become recognized as a complementary approach to reducing the onset and severity of cancer-related symptoms and/or symptom management. The underlying reasons that yoga is regarded among cancer patients and survivors are due to its ability to help them relax; cope with care-related distress, pain and fatigue; take an active and positive role in their cancer journey; and increase energy, physical activity, immunity, sleep and mental cognitive abilities. It’s clear that yoga is beneficial among cancer patients during treatment and after transitioning outside a medical setting.
Health and Wellness Coaching
A health and wellness coach is a supportive guide who helps clients establish goals, whether that’s to become more active, improve energy, manage stress, sleep well or make better lifestyle choices. What is important to know is that health and wellness coaches do not prescribe diets, physical activity plans or supplements. Rather, they are a supportive role focused on fostering a positive mindset around health and well-being. Wellness coaches provide tools and knowledge to help empower and motivate their clients, as well as help them make sustainable behavioral lifestyle choices.
There are several ways in which a trained health and wellness coach can assist a client during and after cancer treatment to explore mindfulness, meditation, breathwork and resiliency. When it comes to diet, nutrition and supplements during cancer treatment, this is a very specialized role that is often coordinated with an oncology professional who is mindful of any interactions with medications or treatments.
By implementing these offerings into beauty and wellness programming, we will not only be able to better support clients during and after cancer treatments, but we can customize treatments to their individual needs.
Julie Bach is the executive director of Wellness for Cancer, as well as a yoga therapist, health coach and Heartmath Resiliency trainer. She is a thought leader within the spa and wellness industry and has spent 20 years as a cancer advocate to facilitate greater access to integrative wellness modalities. Bach was named Leading Woman in Wellness by the Global Wellness Summit in 2017 for her dedication to creating a more inclusive well world.
