Dr Harold Benjamin, Founder of The Wellness Community, Dies at Age 80

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 26 Dec 2004 - 15:00 PDT


The Wellness Community(R) (TWC), an international, non-profit organization dedicated to providing free support, education and hope for all people affected by cancer, announced that its founder, Harold H. Benjamin, Ph.D., died yesterday at the age of 80. Benjamin, an internationally recognized authority on the psychosocial and emotional aspects of the fight for recovery from cancer, died from complications from pulmonary fibrosis, in his home, surrounded by his family.

Benjamin dedicated his life, since 1972, to helping people with cancer fight for recovery. In 1980, he conceived the Patient Active Concept which states, "People with cancer who participate in their fight for recovery along with their health care team, rather than acting as hopeless, helpless, passive victims of the illness, will improve the quality of their lives and may enhance the possibility of their recovery."

Armed only with this concept, Benjamin retired from the practice of law and all other economic pursuits to found The Wellness Community and to provide the Patient Active Concept, without charge, to as many cancer patients as possible. Many consider Benjamin's Patient Active Concept at the heart of today's patient advocacy movement.

Dr. Benjamin was the author of two books, "From Victim to Victor" and "The Wellness Community Guide to Fighting For Recovery From Cancer," which has been translated into German, Spanish and Japanese.

Following his service in World War II, Benjamin completed his undergraduate studies at Penn State in 1947. They later honored him with their prestigious Outstanding Alumni Award. Benjamin graduated Cornell Law School in 1950, and for the next 35 years was a successful attorney and businessman in New York City and Beverly Hills. In 1972, when his wife had a bilateral mastectomy, he devoted himself to the study of the effect psychological and social trauma has on the cancer process culminating with his Ph.D. in 1986 in Social Psychology. He formulated a set of guidelines cancer patients can use as partners with their physicians in the fight for recovery to improve the quality of their lives and maybe enhance the possibility of their recovery.

Initially, the public and medical profession looked on the program with skepticism, suspecting that profit was the motive or that it was a front for alternative remedies. However, observers soon learned that Benjamin's only motive was to help cancer patients. When that became apparent, physicians along with social workers, other health professionals, and the American Cancer Society soon began to refer their patients to the program.

Today, The Wellness Community, with 22 centers across the United States, is accepted as an integral part of total cancer patient care.

Harold Benjamin is survived by his wife, Harriet, of Marina del Rey, Calif.; his daughters, Ann Benjamin and Lauren Benjamin; his grandson, Jordan Garrett and his wife Pearl; and great-granddaughter, Ana; and great-grandson, Benjamin.

Call The Wellness Community-West Los Angeles, (310) 314-2555, after January 3rd, 2005, for details of the public memorial. His family requests donations be made to the Harold and Harriet Benjamin Building Fund, The Wellness Community - West Los Angeles, 2716 Ocean Park Blvd. #1040, Santa Monica, CA 90405.

About The Wellness Community

The Wellness Community(R) is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to providing free support and education as well as hope to people affected by cancer. Through participation in professionally-led support groups, educational workshops, nutrition and exercise programs, and mind/body classes, people affected by cancer learn vital skills that enable them to regain control, reduce isolation and restore hope regardless of the stage of their disease. Today, there are 22 Wellness Communities across the United States, four in development, 28 satellites, two centers abroad in Tokyo and Tel Aviv, and online at The Virtual Wellness Community.
http://www.thewellnesscommunity.org

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