An Innovative Approach to
Psychosocial Support

Suzanna Hoyler, Director
WCT Information Management
Washington Hospital Center

When the going gets tough…The tough go camping. It was 6+ years ago that a group of women from a breast cancer survivors support group raised the idea of doing something “out of the ordinary”. Several of them had watched a documentary about a group of women climbing a mountain to celebrate their cancer survivorship. This group of survivors from our health system wanted to do “something like that”! Given the geography, Florida’s highest point above sea level is 345 feet, I encouraged them to consider the alternatives.

What they proposed is now called Camp Living Springs. This 3 day retreat provides adult cancer survivors with an opportunity get away from their day-to-day obligations and let their hair down (or take their wigs and turbans off) and share experiences with other cancer survivors. Camp Living Springs’ mission is to promote camaraderie, relaxation and shared experiences while nurturing the spirit of those touched by cancer.

The camp is held at an executive retreat center, located on 100+ acres about 90 minutes south of Morton Plant Hospital. The first camp was held in 1998, with 34 “campers” (cancer survivors) and 15 “resource” buddies (members of the health system), with a $15,000 grant from the Foundation as the budget. (It was important that financial considerations not determine who did and did not attend Camp, so the entire weekend is provided at no cost to the campers.)

The sixth year of Camp Living Springs was held the first weekend in November 2003 with over 75 campers and 30 “buddies”. Since that first year, the interest and popularity of Camp has grown dramatically and so has the structure. Now the Morton Plant Hospital auxiliary (called Caring Partners) has assumed responsibility for planning, organizing and financially supporting the Camp. Each year Caring Partners raises in excess of $25,000 toward this effort. They also have subcommittees that plan evening activities, arts & crafts, canoeing, nature walks, a non-denominational spirituality service and the menu. The auxiliary members also now serve as the campers’ “buddies” and there is a long waiting list of auxiliary members wanting to participate.

Adult cancer retreats, while becoming more common, are still a unique way to provide support for cancer survivors. Including your health system’s auxiliary is a great way to insure a funding source. Here, it has also shifted the responsibility of planning, organizing and running the Camp each year. Please feel free to email me tim.mcmahon@baycare.org for more information.

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