Without question, at one point or another in our lifetime, each of us will be a patient as will our loved ones. Before this possibility becomes a reality, we all need to consider what is important in patient care. The voice of the patient should be listened to and heard. Please take a moment to watch this video to learn why Urban Zen was inspired to make healthcare and well-being an initiative of great importance and passion.

UZIT PROGRAM AT UCLA

“UCLA Health System has a long tradition of integrating holistic healthcare techniques with traditional medical care,” said Dr. David Feinberg, president of the UCLA Health System, CEO of the UCLA Hospital System and associate vice chancellor for health sciences. “[The UZIT Program] fits in perfectly with our mission of treating the whole patient rather than just a particular illness. We feel fortunate to partner with Donna on her vision of combining the very best in Western medicine with Eastern healing therapy techniques that enhance the patient’s health and well-being.”

Training for the first group of 30 professionals at UCLA, including nurses, therapists, social workers and other care providers, began in September, and the program will be ready to provide these services to patients this December.

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Our 2011 Integrative Therapy Program started last April with students from all walks of life learning modalities from yoga therapy to Reiki, essential oil therapy, nutrition and contemplative care.

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By combining gentle in-bed movements, repositioning of the patient (or caregiver) into a restorative position, breath awareness meditation, body scan, yoga therapy provides deep relaxation and restorative calmness allowing patients to release tension, ease breathing, promote sleep and encourage healing.

This healing energy can be done hands-on or hands-off. Reiki is similar to therapeutic touch. It is a form of complementary and alternative medicine and is sometimes classified as oriental medicine by some professional bodies. Through the use of this technique, practitioners transfer healing energy through the palms.

The use of plant-based oils can be traced back to Biblical times. Used for its therapeutic properties, essential oils have been shown to assist in healing by inhalation, ingestion and topical use. Our therapists are trained to use highly diluted amounts of oils to provide therapeutic benefits based on the PANIC™ assessment model.

UZITs are trained in the fundamentals of good nutrition for self-care. Following this instruction, individual disease states and how nutrition affects each are examined to allow UZITs to approach nutrition as yet another tool for wellbeing. We do not train nutritionists or dieticians, instead we train our students in nutritional self-care.

UZITs are trained to sit with a patient, without judgment or agenda. We meet them at their physical and emotional level and never push to do more than a patient is able to do on a given day.

RODNEY YEE, Co-Director UZIT Program, Co-Director of Yoga Therapy
COLLEEN SAIDMAN YEE, Co-Director UZIT Program, Co-Director of Yoga Therapy
ROSHI JOAN HALIFAX, Director of Contemplative Care
TRACY GRIFFITH, RPP, RPE, CMT, Director of Essential Oil Therapy
LENA FALTH, Reiki Master, Director of Reiki
SUSAN LUCK, RN, MA, HNC, CCN, Director of Nutrition
RICHARD FREEMAN, Instructor Yoga Therapy
MARY TAYLOR, Instructor Yoga Therapy
RICHARD ROSEN, Instructor Yoga Therapy
ROBERT CHODO CAMPBELL, HHC, Instructor Contemplative Care
KOSHIN PALEY ELLISON, MFA, LMSW, ACPE, Instructor Contemplative Care
GEOFFREY RONIGER, RYT , Instructor Yoga Therapy
ED DAILEY, RN, RYT, RNPA, Instructor Yoga Therapy

Dr. Mark Hyman
Dr. Mehmet Oz
Dr. Frank Lipman
Dr. Dean Ornish
Dr. Alejandro Junger
Dr. Woody Merrell
Dr. Jim Gordon
Kris Carr
Mary Beth Charno, RN, RYT, HNC

Johnson & Johnson “Campaign For Nursing’s Future” is collaborating with our 2011 Urban Zen Integrative Therapy (UZIT) Program to offer generous scholarship opportunities for nurses. We are collaborating  with Johnson & Johnson “Campaign For Nursing’s Future” because we are very grateful to the nurses of America who care so selflessly for patients and their loved ones. Together, we are dedicated to advancing the nursing profession and to supporting the nursing community. Both organizations understand the emotional and physical depletion this demanding profession can create among its professionals. READ MORE

Follow the journey of our four Johnson & Johnson UZIT Scholarship recipients as they complete the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program. READ MORE

Donna Karan and Urban Zen Foundation partnered with Beth Israel Medical Center (BIMC) in 2009 to create opportunities for research on integrative therapies, develop a pilot program that enhances the care of cancer patients and create a clinical rotation site for UZIT students. The goal of this program is to create an Optimal Healing Environment that is built around a menu of complementary healing therapies.
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Learn more about the UZIT medical research conducted at Beth Israel Medical Center.
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Other clinical sites include: Farber Center for Radiation Oncology, Montefore Medical Center, Southampton Hospital and American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge.

SHANA KUHN-SIEGEL
Yoga Coordinator / Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program at BIMC
“Working with caregivers and hospital staff initially had a lot of unknowns. I didn’t speak their language and they didn’t speak mine. But by acknowledging their efforts and contributions and offering information about the integrative therapies, it was amazing to see them accept the therapies and me.”

DR. MARTIN KARPEH
General Surgeon, BIMC
“I was a bit skeptical at first myself, but to see a patient who got nausea after a major abdominal surgery and they take part in [essential oil therapy] or acupuncture and you begin to see some of that nausea be relived. It truly is a compliment to what we use.”