Cancer Care

Complementary Care. Extraordinary Results.

The Healing Environment program helps reduce stress, renew the spirit, and nurture an overall sense of hope in patients, their families and staff. Beginning in 1996 at the Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center, The Healing Environment program has spread throughout Baylor University Medical Center and to other parts of the Baylor Health Care System.

The program's proven philosophy is that true healing involves not only the physical care but spiritual and emotional nurturing as well. Sight, sound, touch, smell, meditation and humor are all tools used to complement and enhance the medical treatment that patients receive.

Scientific research at Harvard Medical School and other scientific research have validated the positive effects of these non-invasive techniques. And similar programs are used around the country including St. Lukes Episcopal Health System in Houston, all 172 Veterans Administration medical centers, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center – L.A., and NYU Medical Center.

The Healing Environment provides:

• 24 -hour relaxation TV programming, which reduces anxiety and offers a sense of well-being and peace of mind
• Scenic nature art, which reduces stress by giving the patient a calming focal point during procedures
• Humor through clown performances and video programs to stimulate joy and hopefulness
• Music to increase feelings of self-worth and hope, reducuction of fear and anxiety, and increased personal control of surrounding environment
• The Interfaith Garden of Prayer, which provides a sacred place of beauty and serenity for people of all faiths to come to nurture the soul's longing for prayer
• Aromatherapy to provide relaxation, a positive self-image and a reduction of nausea
• Touch therapies to reduce pain and stress
• Aquariums located in areas of high stress to help reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure and pulse rates