LifeBridge Health Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute Named LIVESTRONG Community Impact Project Finalist and Award Recipient

Baltimore, MD -The LifeBridge Health Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute has been named one of 13 organizations to receive a LIVESTRONG® Community Impact Project grant to start a Jeffrey Frank Wacks Music Therapy Program at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. As a finalist, the Lapidus Cancer Institute will receive $15,600 to help replicate and implement the national program.

The Jeffrey Frank Wacks Music Therapy Program's overarching goal is to facilitate relaxation, decrease anxiety, enhance wellness, improve pain management and provide support for cancer patients and their caregivers. Music therapy is proven to reduce stress and pain levels associated with illness and hospitalization. For many patients, the simple act of listening to music provides a therapeutic release, promoting healing and overall wellbeing. Clinical music therapy services are provided on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. Two part-time music therapists conduct sessions with patients either at the bedside or in common areas of the Lapidus Cancer Institute.

In addition to the Foundation's financial support, the chosen organizations will receive various materials, including facilitator manuals and participant materials; training and support from the model program's staff; and access to additional tools and resources.

The Jeffrey Frank Wacks Music Therapy Program finalist organizations were determined through an online voting campaign that accumulated more than the 100,000 votes over an 18-day period (March 2 - April 11). More than 100 qualified hospitals, cancer centers, university students and community organizations in seven regions across the U.S. were selected to participate in the online voting campaign that determined the award recipients. Finalists for the awards were determined by individual votes within each region.

The music therapy program is one of three proven cancer support programs included in the 2014 Community Impact Project selected by the LIVESTRONG Foundation, a top-rated non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by cancer today.

LifeBridge Health is one of the largest, most comprehensive providers of health services in Maryland. In addition to Sinai Hospital, it includes Northwest Hospital, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, Courtland Gardens Nursing & Rehabilitation Center and related subsidiaries and affiliates. For more information, visit lbhstaging22.lifebridgehealth.org