UCCH supportive care offers

  • Dear parents,

    you or your partner is diagnosed with a severe, maybe even life-threatening, physical disease and you have underaged children? Perhaps you are wondering sometimes, how to deal with your child in this situation. Maybe you are not sure, what to tell your child and what information the child comprehends. Or it could be that you are wondering, why your child does not ask about your or your partner’s illness. Which terms does a child understand? How much honesty can a child bear? And all with the background about a reality, which is hard to bear yourself.

    From our experience we know that those and a lot more questions arise by parents confronted with severe physical illnesses. Such a situation is always burdening. It is understandable that you as parents are insecure in how to explain the disease with all its risks and uncertainties.

    Therefore we have a developed an advisory office for families with children – from infant age to adolescents – where one parent is severely ill.

    The main aim of our work is a preventive support for mothers, fathers and relatives.

    In direct conversations with you, we try to sum up the situation and to identify possible difficulties that could arise. In that process all kinds of questions can be discussed concerning the effects of the physical illness on the relationship with the children and their further development.

    We like to support you in getting your whole family into conversation: about the disease, your wishes, fears and questions about what is so hard to say.

    Procedure and registration

    First of all, our team is available for an intensive conversation with preferably both parents. Afterwards we could schedule further parent talks if wished, or conversations with the whole family or solo with the child/children.

    The talks will take place at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf at the Hubertus Wald Tumor Center (building O43). If you are currently our stationary patient at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, we can also come to your room here. In that case please register via the ward physician.

    Isabelle Scholl
    Prof. Dr. phil. Dipl.-Psych.
    Isabelle Scholl
    • Deputy director of the institute
    • Head of special outpatient clinic for psycho-oncology
    • Psychological psychotherapist
    Location

    W26 , 2nd Floor
  • The diagnosis cancer always means a severe cut in the life of the person affected and is, like almost no other disease, so often correlated with fears and burdening feelings. The art therapy supports you in finding ways of dealing with your disease. You can develop an inner stability, which allows you a more active handling with your situation.

    There are multiple expression possibilities for doing so: you can draw, paint with colors or work with clay – whatever it is that fits to your individual situation and needs. Under the leading of a qualified art therapist the Hubertus Wald Tumor Center – University Cancer Center Hamburg offers a weekly supportive art therapy.

    Schedule for the course

    If you are interested in the course, please contact our art therapist Martina Riedrich. Before beginning the course, there will first be a conversation, talking about your personal goals and expectations. For that talk a separate appointment is necessary.

    Contact:

    Martina Riedrich +49 (0) 178 2828476

  • "Making life sound"

    Living with cancer brings with it the most varied feelings and moods. It is often difficult to grasp them and find your way around them. Music therapy offers the possibility to perceive and express oneself in a holistic way with the help of music. Experiencing the different facets of music, searching for and finding harmonious sounds and playing styles can lead to a better self-understanding. This creates creative moments that open up new scope and perspectives.

    Both active and receptive methods will be used in this group. There will be the possibility to improvise together on various easily playable instruments and to listen to music imaginatively. These musical units deepen the respective themes of the lessons and the experiences in them are reflected together. The group offers a valuable resonance chamber for this purpose.

    Requirements for participation:
    You yourself have cancer and are willing to get involved in the topic and cooperation in the group. There is no need for previous musical experience.

    Registration:
    Please register at the secretary's office of the outpatient clinic:
    Centre for Psychosocial Medicine
    Mrs. Lutz / Mrs. Cartus
    +49 (0) 7410 56803
    Keyword:"Das Leben zum Klingen bringen"

    Office hours: Monday to Friday from 09:00- 12:30 o' clock
    There is an answering machine outside office hours.

    Head:

    Daniela Heddaeus
    Dr. rer. biol. hum. Dipl.-Psych.
    Daniela Heddaeus
    • Psychologist
    • Research fellow
    Pia Preißler
    Dr. phil. Dipl.-Musiktherapeutin
    Pia Preißler
    • Music therapist
    • Psycho-oncologist
  • The diagnosis cancer can be a severe psychological burden for patients and their relatives. Sorrows and fears can be very urging – but openly talking with others often seems to be challenging. Here a professional support by specialists can be helpful for everyone involved. Therefore, we offer psychological support by our psycho-oncology department, which knows about the exceptional situation patients and their relatives are in.

    At the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf we are available for you: as well as for stationary and outpatient patients, in day clinics and in aftercare (also if you are not a patient at the UKE anymore). Our team of specially qualified psychologists and physicians offers conversations as well as regular group meetings, couple and family consultancies and relaxation trainings.

    You can freely chose, if and at what point of your treatment you like to make use of these offers. If you are a patient at the UKE, please contact us via your treatment team or call the number below. If you are not a UKE patient anymore, please call the number below.

    Contact:

    Michaela Cartus +49 (0) 40 7410 - 56803

    Dipl.-Psych. Sigrid Jaacks
    +49 (0) 40 7410 - 52962

  • The diagnosis cancer often means a far-reaching change for your work and private life, a need to rethink about future goals and life planning and also a new situation for your social surrounding.

    There is a lot of information to process and significant decisions to make. A problem often occurring is the chaos of responsibilities and processes related with public authorities and institutions as well as the limits of social law, e.g. with occupational reintegration and services for early detection and care paid by public insurances.

    In such a burdening situation we, the UCCH, offer you psychosocial support and social law consultancy through our social counseling. Our goal is to jointly make necessary decisions, develop supportive strategies and put these in practice relating to your disease status, social and job-related situation. If you wish, we consult you joint by your relatives or another trust person.

    We will consult you in the following topics:

    • Connection to advisory offices and self-help groups
    • Matters with public authorities, institutions and cost payers
    • Matters concerning severe handicapping, work places and occupational reintegration
    • Salary replacements: sickness pay, unemployment benefits (Hartz IV), disability pension benefit, social aid
    • Medical rehabilitation
    • Care and preventive care services in case of threatening or existing extensive nursing needs
    • Power of attorney, Patient Decree, legal supervision

    Contact:

    Head of outpatient clinic:

  • Healthier living through physical activity

    There is a big offer of sports and movement programs for prevention as supportive therapy and for the time after a cancer therapy at the Hubertus Wald Tumor Center – University Cancer Center Hamburg.

    The prevention programs are designed for people who want to decrease their cancer risk by a healthier life style. In the framework of aftercare there is a multifaceted and individually constructed training program under professional supervision for patients after a curative chemotherapy, but also for patients in curative/palliative disease situation under current chemotherapy respectively therapy-free intervals.

    To find the individually functioning program for you, all activities are coordinated by a sports scientist, who will talk to you about your needs and wishes in advance.

    Our goal is, that each patient, relative and interested person at the UCCH can participate in different sports activities. Moreover, we make scientific studies investigating the influence of physical activity and targeted training programs for certain cancer diseases.

    A high number of oncological patients already participated in these programs and after a short time it already could be shown, that patients are benefiting from the training options and the correlated possibilities of getting to know other patients.

    Further information about the UCCH physical activity programs

    Contact:

    Outpatient physiotherapy at the UKE

    Physiotherapy at the UKE (in German)

    Head: