Free Workshop April 18 Focuses on Caring for a Loved One with a Primary Brain Tumor

UR Medicine’s Neuro-Oncology Program will host a free, day-long workshop on Saturday, April 18, for individuals who are caring for an adult loved one with a primary brain tumor.

Primary brain tumors, unlike metastatic brain tumors, originate in brain cells, and they can be either slow-growing or more aggressive. They can have significant effects on the brain and the functions it controls. Those effects can include changes in personality, mood or behavior; problems with hearing, vision or speech; and loss of balance and trouble walking.

“Caring for a loved one with a primary brain tumor presents a unique set of challenges, and it can be very isolating,” said Jennifer Serventi, RPA-C, of UR Medicine’s Neuro-Oncology Program and one of the workshop’s organizers. “Through this workshop, we will offer caregivers tools to help them cope and opportunities to connect with others who truly understand what they’re going through.”

Serventi

The April 18 workshop will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, 1100 S. Goodman St. Breakfast and lunch are included.

Among the featured speakers will be:

• Ann Betz, LCSW, a clinical social worker in private practice, whose talk is titled “Finding the Support of Connection through Talking.” It will explore how putting thoughts and feelings into words can help caregivers metabolize the stress and trauma of having a loved one with a serious or life-threatening condition such as cancer.
• Mandy Elliot, LCAT, MT-BC, who will discuss music therapy and the role it can play in providing emotional support, easing stress and depression, and supporting communication. Elliot will explore how songwriting and using music can be effective for communicating thoughts and feelings when words are lacking or simply not enough.

The event will also include smaller breakout sessions with topics related to the challenges of caregiving. Free chair massage will be available throughout the day as well.

While brain and other nervous system cancers are relatively rare compared to other cancers, they still affect more than 23,000 people each year in the United States.

This free workshop is open to anyone who is caring for an adult loved one with a primary brain tumor. Registration is required. To register or to learn more about the workshop, please contact Jennifer Serventi, RPA-C, at (585) 276-3971 or at Jennifer_Serventi@urmc.rochester.edu.

This caregiver workshop is supported by UR Medicine’s Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology, with additional support from Bruegger’s Bagels and Wegmans Food Markets Inc.