In one of the most ambitious projects of its kind, the Urban Zen Foundation has partnered with a New York hospital to create a holistic pilot program for cancer patients.

Its collaboration with Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan will combine traditional techniques with Eastern healing methods, yoga and meditation. Registered nurses are involved in the project enrolling patients on the medical oncology floor.

These nurses will provide a more holistic approach by blending traditional nursing care with scientifically-based healing therapies, said Aurora Ocampo, RN, MA, a clinical nurse specialist in the Department of Integrative Medicine and Continuum Center for Health and Healing.

Fashion designer Donna Karan is sponsoring the project through her Urban Zen Foundation with co-founder Sonja Nuttall. The DKNY clothing line creator and yoga enthusiast has donated $850,000 to the year-long experiment at Beth Israel.

Karan’s yoga masters, Rodney and Colleen Saidman Yee, are overseeing the training program for integrative yoga therapists, who have been working with patients on three of the hospital’s floors since June. For the pilot study, they plan to send these therapists to the oncology ward starting around late January. Meanwhile, nurses will be trained in various alternative modalities.

The goal is to show that a holistic regime can lessen the typical symptoms of cancer and its treatment, such as pain, anxiety, nausea and constipation – and to set an example for other hospitals to emulate.

Karan chose Beth Israel because it is among a handful of hospitals nationwide with full-fledged integrative medicine departments. For the past eight years, it has experimented with merging mainstream and alternative therapies.

Therapy sessions will take place at the bedside or in the meditation/yoga space once it is created – one patient at a time and in groups. Various therapies, aimed at alleviating pain and suffering, will include stress management, yoga, aromatherapy, reiki, imagery, meditation and breathing awareness.

A nurse for more than 30 years, Ocampo is a seasoned practitioner of complementary modalities ranging from biofeedback to crainosacral therapy, therapeutic touch, reiki and hypnotherapy. She is also certified in clinical imagery and aromatherapy.

“In my active involvement in holistic nursing practice, I was instrumental in introducing and integrating theses healing modalities at Beth Israel Medical Center,” she said. “I have done numerous lectures, presentation and workshops in self-care utilizing these mind/body therapies to promote health maintenance and disease prevention.”

Just 10 to 15 minutes with a therapist can foster an atmosphere of rest and relaxation, which helps boost the immune system, according to Ed Dailey, RN, an integrative therapist with the Urban Zen Foundation and a registered yoga teacher.

“We’ve taken very simplified restorative yoga poses, so that they’re accessible even to the sickest of patients,” said Dailey, 47, a nurse for 15 years who is now part of the foundation’s initiative at Beth Israel Medical Center.

Recently, Dailey guided an 86-year-old cancer survivor through a relaxation pose in bed. The woman, who had complained of insomnia, found comfort in lying with her eyes closed and legs elevated, with pillows supporting her chest and spine. Her pain also subsided.

Feedback from the yoga therapists’ session logs also noted anecdotal reports of decreased pain and increased relaxation. As patients become more satisfied with their care, they may experience an even greater reprieve from cancer’s symptoms and the secondary effects of its treatment, said Shirley Escala, RN, manager of the medical oncology floor.

Her entire team of registered nurses and patient care assistants – about 40 employees – received training in holistic modalities. Refresher training is being initiated.

“I am a strong believer in the effect that one’s mind has on the body – and that we must deal with the patient’s psyche and feelings of empowerment – in order to have any effect on the patient’s illness and well-being,” said Escala, a nurse for more than 20 years. “I don’t believe that Western medicine has all of the answers.”

For more information, visit www.urbanzen.org.