Cancer Support Services
Cancer Support Services at Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center is comprised of an array of caring professionals helping cancer patients in many important ways. These services include Patient Navigation, Social Work, Nutritional Services, Music Therapy, Integrative Therapy, and Pet Therapy. An Events Calendar provides information on the monthly events provided by our Cancer Support Services. Additional resources for cancer patients are always available on the third floor of the Cancer Center.
Patient Navigation
After you learn that you have cancer, you may feel very unsure about how to proceed. Fortunately, patients at Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center can access our Certified Oncology Patient Navigators, who are your point of contact with the doctors and the programs to which they are assigned.
The Patient Navigation profession has been integrated and adapted along with the changing healthcare environment and the needs of patients. Our Navigators will focus on helping you overcome any obstacles that stand in the way of accessing the care you need. Our navigators will assist with making appointments with the multidisciplinary team of cancer care providers, including imaging specialists, geneticists, surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and any other healthcare provider who may be part of your treatment team.
More on Patient Navigation
Mount Sinai’s patient navigators can help you with:
Practical Needs
- Access to and coordination of care, including appointments with specialists
- Access to and utilization of Mount Sinai Medical Center’s patient portal
- Referrals to biomolecular and genetic testing
- Redirecting patients to their doctors about test results
- Personalized patient education based on your care plan
- Referrals to specialists and specialized services
- Managing some issues relating to insurance coverage
- Referrals for concerns about money and lodging
- Paying for or getting medications
- Exploring childcare and eldercare
- Orienting regarding work and school-related issues
- Finding interpreters for people whose first language is not English
Physical Needs
- Guidance and support about some side effects of treatment
- Personal care, including guidance about bathing and dressing
- Getting equipment such as prostheses, ostomy supplies, and wigs
- Getting devices to help with movement and walking (mobility), such as a wheelchair or walker
- Getting referrals for physical, occupational, or speech therapy
- Getting a referral for home care, palliative care, or hospice care
- Getting a referral for psychology or psychiatry
Social Work
Mount Sinai’s Cancer Support Services include Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs) to assist patients and their families at every step of the cancer journey. Our social work team works to overcome obstacles that can interfere with a patient’s treatment. In addition, our counseling team can make referrals to community agencies, identify specific resources, and address unique circumstances that may arise.
More on Social Work
Our social workers can assist patients with the following:
- Determining advance directives
- Aiding with Disability paperwork
- Insurance coverage and financial issues
- Community resources
- Identifying resources for those with physical disabilities, including those that arise from cancer treatment
- Arranging at-home care
- Finding housing/lodging for caregivers
- Arranging transportation to and from treatments
Nutritional Services
Healthy eating can help cancer patients feel better, stay stronger, and avoid certain complications, such as malnutrition. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, along with other critical organizations, conclude that preventing malnutrition helps improve treatment outcomes in cancer patients.
Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center offers a Nutrition Service Department with experienced Registered Dietitians. Our professional team utilizes an evidence-based nutrition therapy approach to counsel patients through their cancer journey.
A Registered Dietitian is available to help you and your loved ones understand the dietary implications of your diagnosis. They specialize in helping oncology patients maintain good eating habits and healthy weight during treatment with personalized nutritional care plans. The Nutrition Service Program is committed to supporting patients’ well-balanced lifestyles as they navigate from discovery to recovery.
Our nutritionists can assist you with the following:
- Managing nutrition during treatment
- Providing nutrition education materials and resources
- Creating personalized nutritional care plans
- Identifying risk for malnutrition and improving nutrition outcomes
- Guiding patients through nutrition counseling to reach their personal health goals
- Facilitating positive lifestyle changes to optimize overall well-being
- Coordinating care with the entire healthcare team
Integrative Therapy
Research indicates that a healthy mind and body are connected. With this understanding, Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center offers patients a range of complementary therapies to encourage healing, promote inner peace, and enhance patients’ overall well-being. You can access our integrative medicine therapists at no additional cost and schedule appointments based on your treatment schedule.
What Is Integrative Therapy?
Integrative therapy is a holistic approach to well-being borrowed from Eastern traditions that addresses all aspects of our selves – physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. It is a form of therapy that combines practices and treatments from complementary medicine (such as yoga and acupuncture) with conventional medicine. Our integrative therapists address multiple aspects of mind and body to help patients find greater harmony and support their healing process. At Mount Sinai, we offer the following integrative therapies:
- Mindful Movement consists of gentle exercise that helps lower tension and increase energy. Movement empowers patients to feel at ease and strong in their bodies.
- Meditation and Breath Awareness promote physical and mental relaxation. Patients learn strategies to significantly reduce stress during and beyond treatment.
- Aroma Therapy uses natural essential oils from plants for targeted relief of the symptoms and side effects of cancer treatment.
- Reiki Therapy originated in Japan and is a technique that uses energy transfer to support well-being and healing.
Music Therapy
The American Music Therapy Association defines music therapy as “an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals.” Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center currently provides complimentary music therapy services as part of our Cancer Support Services program.
What is Music Therapy?
During a music therapy session, patients and their families can engage in music-assisted relaxation techniques, learn how to play a new instrument, and even record a song. Our Board-Certified Music Therapists provide these kinds of music-based interventions, which are known to help manage multiple symptoms and give individuals a way to express themselves and the feelings that come up during cancer treatment and beyond. Integrating music therapy into a comprehensive treatment plan can be a valuable healing experience for patients and their caregivers.
Pet Therapy
At the Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center, our Pet Therapy Program employs certified animals and handlers to help patients improve their physical, social, and psychological health. Research studies have shown that animal-assisted therapy decreases anxiety and pain, lowers blood pressure, and boosts levels of “feel-good” hormones. Our Pet Therapy Program volunteers visit Mount Sinai’s outpatient cancer centers in Miami Beach and Aventura.
Educational Resources
To keep Mount Sinai patients informed, our team of cancer professionals has compiled a selection of credible articles, books, and other publications for their use. All material is provided by reputable doctors and researchers who have investigated a range of cancers that our medical facility now treats. Mount Sinai continues to provide an updated list for medical accuracy, education, and cognizance in the treatment of cancer, based on ongoing cancer research and medical developments. Podcasts and lecture series updates are also available from our digital health team for easy listening and learning.
Our Physicians
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Alan M Nieder, MD
Co-Chief, Columbia University Division of Urology at Mount Sinai Medical Center
Program Director, Urology Residency Program
Associate Professor at the Columbia University Division of Urology at Mount Sinai Medical Center
- Urology
- Cancer
- Oncology
- Urologic Oncology
- Robotic Surgery
- Mount Sinai Medical Center (Main Campus)
- 305.674.2499
- Mount Sinai Emergency Center, Physician Offices, Cancer Center and Diagnostic Center Aventura
- 305.692.1080
- Mount Sinai Specialty Care Key West I Cardiology, Urology & Vascular Care
- 305.294.8334
Irman Forghani, MD, FACMG
Director of Genetics at Mount Sinai Medical Center
- Medical Genetics
- Cancer
- Mount Sinai Medical Center (Main Campus)
- 305.535.1859