On Wednesday, May 7 from 10 a.m. to Noon, Monongahela Valley Hospital will hold a
Look Good…Feel Better program
on the hospital campus.

Since 1989, the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (CTFA) Foundation, in partnership with The American Cancer Society (ACS) and the National Cosmetology Association (NCA), has sought to improve the quality of life of more than 370,000 cancer survivors by helping them approach their disease and treatment plan with greater confidence. Through Look Good…Feel Better, a free, national cancer support program, volunteers teach cosmetic techniques to more than 35,000 women each year, providing information on how to overcome the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment.

“The program is not about medical procedures. Instead, we are giving women the tools they need to take control of the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment and feel better about themselves,” says Susan Kozar, RN, nurse manager of the oncology unit at the hospital. “By hosting this program over the years, I know personally how this program helps patients cope with the ravages of this disease.”

Kozar says that many women enter the Look Good…Feel Better sessions reluctant and uncertain about how a program like this can help. “Once they find themselves among other women cancer patients who are experiencing some of the same feelings, the dynamics change. By the time they leave a Look Good…Feel Better session, they take with them a new, more positive attitude about themselves.”

The cosmetics industry donates more than $10 million worth of cosmetics to Look Good…Feel Better participants in the U.S. each year. During the two-hour Look Good…Feel Better session, patients receive the free make-up kit and volunteer cosmetologists provide expert advice, offering participants instruction on caring for their skin, applying makeup, and coping with hair loss to help counteract the appearance-related side affects of cancer treatment.

A close look at women of all ages, with various types of cancer reveals that the effects of cancer and its treatment are a life-changing experience, affecting significant aspects of their lives. The relationship between appearance and a perceived quality of life is most marked among women who experienced a significant change in their appearance during treatment for cancer.

Nearly half (47 percent) feel that people treat them differently as a result of their cancer treatment; this is especially true among women who have experienced significant changes in their appearance.

Feelings of being treated differently extend to the workplace for many women, where a number feel that their cancer treatment impacted their professional lives.

Three in five women (59 percent) who worked during treatment say that, when at work, it is important to them to look like they did before treatment. This may partly be due to the fact that 38 percent of women feel that their profession was negatively impacted by their cancer treatment experience.

To register for the Look Good…Feel Better program at MVH call 724-258-1704. Reservations are requested.