647 Group Assessment
Julia Deering
California State University, Bakersfield
Winter Quarter, 2016

The Setting and Population The setting of the group will be in a conference room at the Kern Medical Center Hospital, 1700 Mt Vernon Ave, Bakersfield, CA, 93306. The group will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 am to approximately 10:30 am. The group will be open for cancer patients that are receiving treatment. The name of the group will be Learning to Laugh Again. The group is open but only for those receiving treatment and they may bring their care provider if they would like. This therapy will be offered as long as funding is available and there are 5 more people attending.
Issues and Goals Learning to Laugh Again will help those going through cancer gain physiological and mental health benefits from participating in the laughter therapy. The hope is decrease anxiety and depression symptoms and increase tolerability and outcome of various cancer treatments that one might undergo as a cancer patient. While laughter therapy cannot cure cancer, participants can have benefits from laughing. The group may increase their survival time and ability to find enjoyment in life while they are going through a serious illness. To achieve the goal laughter therapy will be conducted by a hospital social worker. It will include humorous stories, inspirational stories and quotes, then laughter activities, followed by meditation, and ending with a time to share ways they intend to incorporate laughter (or happiness) into their lives during the following week. The only educational information that will be provided is the effect of laughter on the body and mind and general tips and ideas about how it can be incorporated for personal wellness and meaning. A measurable goal of the group would be for patients to have lower depression and anxiety scores one week