[Rehabilitation of cancer patients including creative therapies]

When sufficient experience had been accumulated to support the view that intensive aftercare of the consequences of cancer will have a favourable impact on the individual's prognosis, the German social insurance institutions extended coverage to aids for vocational reintegration, and a medical indication of cancer rehabilitation. Own experience gathered since in the longterm care of cancer patients, which lasted up to three years, almost invariably brought about improvements in the quality of life, often a prolongation of survival time that was worth living, and occasionally a shorter incapacity for work. The decisive factor in this connexion was found to be individualized occupational therapy measures, which, when appropriate, included art and music therapy, structured psychotherapy that included relaxation exercises and group talks as well as recreational activities, both active and passive. The significance of these therapy plans is understood when one takes into account that cancer patients tend to withdraw from their environment due to their anxieties and an impaired self-worth. On account of misconceptions on the disease and its causes those affected by it are often kept away from and further isolated, which aggravates the already existing deficit of social contacts. Insufficient ability to creatively use excessive leisure time will invariably entail brooding over one's personal fate, with depressive reactions being an often unavoidable result.