Immerse yourself in the metaphor of the sea and navigation as a journey that patients embark on during their illness: this is the vision behind ‘Pazienti a Bordo – Vela Rosa’, a project conceived by We Will Care, a non-profit organization dedicated to psychoncological health. Stress and inflammation are risk factors that contribute to the development and progression of tumors, and reducing them means improving both physical and psychological health. That’s why the non-profit has launched a call to recruit 75 patients ready to embark on a 7-day adventure where they will take sailing lessons and participate in group therapy, against the backdrop of the island of Caprera.
The initiative – which will take place in 5 different weeks, from May 17 to October 11 – involves a full immersion among patients, psychotherapists, and sailing instructors, with the goal of training the psychophysical resources of each person and facilitating a deep listening to their emotions, fostering a greater self-awareness. “The idea stems from the metaphorical association between navigation and illness,” explains Gabriella Pravettoni, director of the Psychoncology Division, European Institute of Oncology Irccs. Symbolically, the difficulty of maneuvering, steering, and adjusting the sails in unfavorable wind and sea conditions reflects that of managing life after a diagnosis of oncological disease, where daily life changes and even living the routine can become a challenge, just like navigating around rocks. Learning to sail at sea is symbolic for these women, who must seek the right course to reach their destination, whether it be healing or the chronicization of the disease.
From a psychophysical point of view, this activity requires the involvement of physical and psychological resources that patients often think they no longer possess, and yet they are there, waiting to be stimulated. Participants will work on both individual and group psychological aspects because they will have to collaborate with each other as a crew, working on both the self and relationships. Sailing also requires a deep listening to oneself and allows for a greater self-awareness to develop.” The call is open to all female oncology patients – regardless of diagnosis – of legal age, with no sailing experience, able to swim, and who have already completed (when required) chemotherapy. Other types of treatments do not hinder participation in the journey.
The experience will also have an important scientific aspect: “An important aspect of the project concerns the stress that patients experience,” emphasizes Ketti Mazzocco, associate professor of Psychology, Department of Oncology and Hemato-oncology, University of Milan, and psychoncologist at the European Institute of Oncology. Pollution, diet, hectic life, social relationships, stressful events activate a stress response that fuels inflammation and in the long run contributes to the development of diseases. During this edition, we will assess how the experience on the boat, combined with psychotherapy, influences chronic inflammation, through blood analysis, before and after the journey. The combination of psychotherapy and nature aims to reduce the stress response and low-grade inflammation, decreasing the risk of developing oncological diseases and their progression.
Pazienti a Bordo is a project born in collaboration with the Centro Velico Caprera and Fondazione Prosolidar. For more information: https://www.wewillcare.it/pazienti-a-bordo; to apply, you can write to info@wewillcare.it.
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