Greece | Alma Zois

Alma Zois

Hellenic Association of Women with Breast Cancer Alma Zois, was founded in 1988 by breast cancer survivors who originally aspired to offer to other survivors the necessary support for dealing with their disease and achieving a better quality of life, while soon the part of breast cancer awareness and prevention was added to this aspiration.

The association’s vision today is to offer full psychosocial and legal support to every woman who deals with breast cancer and every woman in Greece information on breast cancer prevention and early detection. Alma Zois provides multiple services, including organized peer support, psychosocial support to breast cancer patients and their families, advocacy campaigns for the breast cancer patient’s rights and breast cancer awareness campaigns.

In the last 30 years, the association has grown, resulting nowadays in numbering 2000+ survivor members and many associate (non-survivor) members, as well as approximately 600 active volunteers. The association’s Board of Directors consists of seven members, all of whom are breast cancer survivors. The Association’s scientific work is designed by full-time mental health professionals and is approved by a 23-member multidisciplinary Scientific Committee. The Association’s personnel consists of a staff of eight (8) and five (5) freelance external associates, while it is administrated by a Board of Directors that consists of seven (7) members.

To whom is “Alma Zois” addressed?

The population we address to is women that are affected by breast cancer throughout Greece and their family members supporting them, as well as to anyone in the general population, since everyone needs to be aware of the breast cancer risks and ways of in-time prevention.

Support programs

• Breast Cancer Care Helpline: +30 210 825 3253

Our Breast Cancer Care Helpline provides not only every woman who experiences breast cancer, but also her family members and friends, with the opportunity to anonymously express their feelings and concerns to our expert health psychologists-psychotherapists and receive the support they need.     

• Group therapy to women with breast cancer

There are different types of group therapy: 

1. Negative Emotions Management groups aim to help women with breast cancer deal with stress and anxiety so that they cope with both breast cancer and any other issue of their everyday life effectively
2. Support groups for Women in the First Two Years after Diagnosis of Breast Cancer aim to empower women going through the painful phase of treatment cope with its several side effects, as well as help them develop relaxation techniques to use during chemotherapy
3. Assertiveness Training Group aim to help women stand up for themselves and empower themselves effectively and in more contemporary terms
4. Self-Awareness Groups aim to help women understand themselves, their feelings and motives, as well as obtain a clear perception of their personality, strengths and weaknesses
5. Chronic Physical and Emotional Pain Symptoms Management through Mindfulness-based Therapy aim to help women with breast cancer deal with chronic symptoms caused by physical pain, often resulting in emotional symptoms, using mindfulness-based techniques
6. Creative Occupation Groups (yoga, creative writing etc.) aim to help women with breast cancer express their emotions in an alternative way, adopt healthy habits and achieve a better quality of life in general

• Psychosocial support for women with breast cancer and their family members 

Individual psychosocial counselling is a service we provide not only to women with breast cancer, but also to their family members, aiming to empower not only the woman herself but also her beloved ones to cope with the disease and its after-effects.

• “Reach to Recovery” peer support to women with breast cancer 

A woman who has experienced breast cancer and has been specially trained according to the standards of the corresponding International “Reach to Recovery” peer support program, voluntarily offers emotional support and practical assistance to other women currently facing the same challenge in Breast Cancer Clinics at numerous hospitals.

• Genetic Testing and Counseling for women with breast cancer and their first-degree family members

“Alma Zois”, in cooperation with the National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos”, conducts a genetic testing and counselling program for women who have already experienced breast cancer and meet the necessary medical requirements, as well as for two more first-degree members of their family.

• Legal Counselling Program

In “Alma Zois” association a legal counsellor provides legal information on employment rights, insurance coverage, social benefits etc. to any patient with breast cancer nationwide through a hotline service.

• Breast Health Clinics Audit throughout Greece

This is an ongoing survey that started in March 2016 and aims to allocate every single health facility enrolled to provide diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Its objective is to gather always updated data and online provide them to anyone concerned through the “Alma Zois” webpage.

• Beauty and nutrition personalized assistance for breast cancer patients during chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy 

This program provides practical beauty, skincare and nutrition tips by make-up and nutrition experts to women receiving treatment for breast cancer, aiming to improve their functionality and psychological status through personalized information and practical assistance on issues caused by treatment side effects affecting their body image. 

• Educational Seminars Program “I know, therefore I decide”

This is an educational program that aims to provide valid and reliable information to women with breast cancer about any health issue that they may come upon, either due  to their special condition, or due to other conditions related to it, conducted by healthcare experts.

Awareness and prevention programs

• Workplace awareness for breast cancer prevention and early detection

This program is implemented through speeches conducted by a skilled team at workplaces (companies, public sector services etc) and other organizations or institutions throughout the year. Speeches have a maximum of 1 hour and 30 minutes duration and are conducted by a team, consisting of an experienced health professional (Breast Surgeon and Oncologist-Internist or Breast Ultrasound), an experienced Social Worker or Psychologist of the Hellenic Association of Women with Breast Cancer “Alma Zois”, as well as a survivor-woman that is also a trained as peer support volunteer of the Hellenic Association of Women with Breast Cancer “Alma Zois”.

• Clinical Breast Examination and Breast Cancer Awareness Program for Younger Women 

Through this program, young women aged from 20 up to 39 years old have the opportunity to experience the process of a clinical examination by a highly experienced breast surgeon and, at the same time, get informed about the importance of breast cancer early detection through regular health checks.

• “Offer Strength” (campaign internationally named “Beautiful Lengths”)

“Alma Zois” association, invites all women to offer some of their… strength to women with breast cancer. Any woman that is interested can let her hair grow long, cut it off at a hairdresser’s and then donate it to “Alma Zois” to create wigs and donate it to women that have lost their own hair due to treatment’s side effects. 

• Greece Race for The Cure® authorized by the Susan G. Komen® organization and Think Pink Europe

Since 2009, the manpower of “Alma Zois” plan, design and organize Greece Race for The Cure®, which actually is a special walk and run event aiming to raise awareness about breast cancer, as well as celebrate breast cancer survivorship and honour those who have lost their battle with the disease. In Athens, Greece, it is usually being held on the last Sunday of every September and consists of 5km run and 2km walk, according to the participant’s preference. In 2019 the event grew tremendously, managing to bring more than 39.879 participants together for this cause.

Mobile App: My Alma: a mobile app for every woman living with metastatic breast cancer

Guided by the needs of metastatic breast cancer patients, Hellenic Association for Women with Breast Cancer “Alma Zois” created a mobile app that aims to become a useful tool for every woman with metastatic breast cancer. The application was designed with the aim to provide to metastatic breast cancer patients:

• information about issues of interest,
• support in everyday life through useful and practical advice
• communication with supportive structures

Through the application, women living with metastatic breast cancer have the opportunity to get informed about the latest medical data and points of interest (Hospitals, Health Care Structures, Pain Management Clinics), to get useful advice on how to manage their feelings and treatment’s side effects, to set goals that will help them improve the quality of their lives and increase healthy behaviour and, last but not least, to get recommendations on how to improve their everyday life.

Helpline for breast cancer patients

Hellenic Association of Women with Breast Cancer “Alma Zois” in 2022 continued with the project “Helpline for breast cancer patients” which has lasted since 2010. The Helpline was created aiming to close the gap between the patients who could have access to psychological support as well as valid and timely information about their diagnosis with the ones that couldn’t. 

Their main goal was to ensure that every woman with breast cancer will have the support she needs (psychological or social), no matter the income, education level or location. 

Staff with a health psychologist-psychotherapist, a social worker, and a trained volunteer (woman with breast cancer experience) managed to provide a full range of information about several problems arising from the breast cancer diagnosis up to survivorship, to the patients and their families.