Grant boosts psychosocial care resources during COVID-19 pandemic

The Simms/Mann-UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology has received a $50,000 grant from Los Angeles-based PHASE ONE Foundation to support psychosocial care for people with cancer, their families and frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The center is providing individual and group support for frontline COVID-19 staff in the hospitals by establishing virtual support groups and other programs to help with the added burdens healthcare workers face during the pandemic.

In addition to supporting the UCLA Simms/Mann Center, the grant also inspired matching support from the community for UCLA Health’s COVID-19 Patient Care and Healthcare Provider Protection Fund.

"The PHASE ONE grant greatly enhances the work of the center and extends its care to all those who have been touched by this pandemic – not just our patients with cancer and their loved ones, but also the frontline workers who are stepping in to provide emotional and spiritual support to those in greatest need,” said Dr. Kauser Ahmed, director of the Simms/Mann-UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology. “The grant allows the center to bring this vital and sustaining circle of care to all in our healthcare community.”

Psychosocial treatment at UCLA Simms/Mann Center, which is part of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA Health and the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the David Geffen School of Medicine, involves a wide range of individual, family and group therapy in addition to psychiatric care. These services include educational programs in nutrition, spiritual care, qi gong and meditation; and workshops such as healing through art and preparing for surgery. The center’s mission is to empower patients and families with support that enhances their overall well-being as they go through the many challenges of a cancer diagnosis.