News and Events

This section is intended to keep you informed about some of the recent Marjorie E. Korff PACT Program events both at the Massachusetts General Hospital and in the community. Given the activity of the PACT team and its members, this list is subject to change at any time. If you would like additional information about scheduled upcoming events, please contact us.

2012 LiveSTRONG Assembly, Austin, TX

Dr. Moore will present a workshop about providing emotional support to children and teens, to a group of college students serving as camp counselors this summer at Camp Kesem locations throughout the country. Camp Kesem strives to provide children affected by a  parent's cancer with a supportive camp community that understands their unique needs.

2012 New England Association of Gynecologic Oncology (NEAGO) meeting, Bar Harbor, ME

Dr. Rauch will present a talk entitled, "When Your Patient is a Parent."

Silver Shoelaces Campaign: Show your Bow!

Do you have a good idea for raising awareness and much needed financial support for PACT with the Silver Shoelaces? If so, please contact us and share your ideas!

We appreciate your help....

$ 25 helps the program distribute 10 pairs of Silver Shoelaces, raising awareness for children impacted by a parent’s cancer

$ 50 provides copies of Raising an Emotionally Healthy Child when a Parent is Sick to four families

$ 100 helps the program maintain its website so parents around the world have access to PACT information

$ 500 enables a PACT clinician to attend a professional conference and share lessons learned from the program with clinicians from around the country

$ 1,000 helps a family receive care for one full year

$ 10,000 enables PACT clinicians to consult with another hospital working to create a parenting program

$ 100,000 sponsors a fellowship so a young clinician can be trained in the PACT model

$ 1,000,000 grows the PACT Program’s endowment and helps ensure the program is available to patients and families forever

If you are interested in learning more about ways to support the program, please contact Michelle Filteau in the MGH Development Office; Michelle can be reached at 617.724.6410 or mfilteau@partners.org.

To donate to the program now, please click here. Thank you for your support!

New, and ongoing, partnerships

LIVESTRONG and the YMCA are working together to develop ways to offer support to cancer survivors and their families, and are utilizing PACT’s expertise.  A select group of “LIVESTRONG at the YMCA” program sites participated in a workshop and a series of phone conversations with Dr. Paula Rauch.  Future strategies to replicate this program to other YMCA branches are being considered. 

2010 brought an exciting opportunity to offer our services to new patient populations. We have partnered with Newton Wellesley Hospital (NWH) and Yale’s Smilow Cancer Center to bring the PACT model to cancer patients and families at these institutions.  These partnerships demonstrate the real potential for our program to be adapted to meet the needs of diverse medical centers. In working closely with both NWH and Yale, we have gleaned insights about how our program functions in a community hospital setting and in an expanding academic medical center. Not only are new patients and medical professionals served through these exciting collaborations, but simultaneously the MGH PACT program grows stronger as a center of excellence. With this increased exposure and participation, it is our hope that support will be available for greater numbers of patients, family members, and professionals who care for them.

CancerCare telephone workshop and podcast

Drs. Paula Rauch and Cynthia Moore participated in a teleconcerence in April, 2011 entitled, "Helping Children and Teens Understand When a Parent or Loved one Has Cancer."  The target audience was parents and guardians, families, friends and health care professionals. To listen to a podcast of the event, click here.  

Newsweek Article and Video Online

Click here to read Dr. Paula K. Rauch's online essay in Newsweek regarding the Marjorie E. Korff PACT Program.

Watch the Newsweek video "Living in the Now" and read the accompanying Newsweek story by clicking here.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Channel 5, Boston

Dr. Paula K. Rauch was interviewed as part of a series by Kelly Tuthill (of Channel 5, Boston) for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The resulting news segment discusses the effects of cancer on the entire family, and provides some suggestions for families in which a parent has cancer. Click here if you would like to watch this segment, or click here if you would like to read about it.

Cancer survivorship conference Video Online

Dr. Vaughn L. Mankey spoke about the children of cancer survivors as part of the Harvard Medical School CME Course: Cancer Survivorship for Clinicians: Helping Survivors Live Well Beyond Cancer. Watch the video interview of Dr. Mankey here.