Sitting Down With Patrick Dempsey
- “Grey’s Anatomy” actor Patrick Dempsey spoke with SurvivorNet CEO Steve Alperin about The Dempsey Center.
- The Dempsey Center offers patients and their families support through complementary services like group therapy, support groups, educational classes, grief counseling, meditation, yoga and acupuncture, among other offerings.
- The Center has locations in Portland and Lewiston, Maine, and people across the country can also access educational workshops, nutrition classes, movement and fitness classes, and integrative therapy workshops online.
- Other groups like the American Cancer Society, CancerCare and Cancer Support Community can connect people with similar support resources in their area.
- Watch the empowering conversation, which took place at Publicis Health Media’s HealthFront event, on SurvivorNetTV.
You may know Dempsey as “McDreamy” Derek Shepherd on the long-running TV drama “Grey’s Anatomy.” But he is also a passionate advocate for cancer patients and is working help patients and their loved ones feel supported and educated during their journey — something many people dealing with cancer are in desperate need of.
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That included seeing the gaps that exist when someone learns they have cancer. Dempsey wanted to make sure other patients and families had a safe and welcoming place to go for the care their needed.
So in 2008, he opened The Dempsey Center, where people affected by cancer can find support through complementary services like group therapy, support groups, educational classes, grief counseling, meditation, yoga and acupuncture, among other offerings.
“What can we do to help you?” is one of the first questions they ask when a newly diagnosed cancer patient walks through their doors.
The Dempsey Center has locations in Portland and Lewiston, Maine. But people all across the country can also access their educational workshops, nutrition classes, movement and fitness classes, and integrative therapy workshops online here.
And if you’d like help finding similar support in your area, you have some options:
- American Cancer Society: Search the group’s online database of local programs and services that can help support you and your loved ones through your journey. ACS can also help connect you with free or low-cost resources.
- CancerCare’s A Helping Hand: This organization helps people find free, professional support services like educational workshops and counseling. Search the online database for resources in your area.
- Cancer Support Community: This non-profit group has locations across the country that offer support groups, yoga classes, and educational workshops for patients and their loved ones. Search their registry for a location near you.
Dempsey said his mom “had the opportunity to see the center come to life. It was inspired by her journey and she spent a lot of time there.”
For the last 15 years, he’s been improving the relationship between cancer patients and their care. And when one in four cancer patients is first learning of their diagnosis from an online portal instead of a human, that’s needed now more than ever.
Watch the empowering conversation on SurvivorNetTV.
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