International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (IJTMB)
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Developing Compassionate Self Care Skills in Persons Living with HIV: a Pilot Study to Examine Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy Feasibility and Acceptability
Get PDFBackground: Self-care skills for persons living with HIV (PLWH) are needed to better cope with the common symptoms and emotional challenges of living with this chronic illness.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT) for individuals receiving medical management for HIV at an outpatient program.
Setting: A nonprofit outpatient day program that provided medical management to low-income individuals with HIV.
Research Design: A one group pre–post study design, nine participants were recruited to receive eight weekly MABT sessions of 1.25 hours each.
Intervention: MABT is designed to facilitate emotion regulation through teaching somaticallybased self-care skills to respond to daily stressors.
Main Outcome Measures: To assess participant characteristics and study feasibility, a battery of health questionnaires and one week of wrist actigraphy was administered pre- and postintervention. A satisfaction survey and written questionnaire was administered postintervention to assess MABT acceptability.
Results: The results demonstrated recruitment and retention feasibility. The sample had psychological and physical health symptoms that are characteristic of PLWH. MABT acceptability was high, and participants perceived that they learned new mind-body self-care skills that improved HIV symptoms and their ability to manage symptoms.
Conclusion: The positive findings support a larger future study to examine MABT efficacy to improve coping with HIV symptoms among PLWH
The Next Frontiers
Get PDFThis issue of the IJTMB includes articles that represent the scope of therapeutic massage and bodywork (TMB) practice and education. The two research articles represent the testing of deductive hypotheses not commonly seen in the TMB literature: the change in tactile abnormalities of young children with autism using qigong massage, and changes in postural balance from massage to the muscles associated with the mandibular trigeminal nerve. The education editorial opens the IJTMB dialogue on the need, value, and issues of competencybased education relative to hours-based programming
Facilitating Case Studies in Massage Therapy Clinical Education
Get PDFThe integration of evidence into reflective health care practice has been on the rise in recent years and is a phenomenon that has affected all health care professions, including massage therapy. Clinical case studies are a research design that follows one patient or subject, making the studies ideal for use in clinical practice. They are valuable for communicating information from clinical practice to the broader community. Case studies have face validity that may be more valuable to individual practitioners than homogeneous randomized controlled trials, as the practitioner may recognize a complex patient in the case report. At Humber College, Student Massage Therapists (SMTs) create, conduct, and communicate results of a clinical case study prior to graduation. This article describes the process and experience
It’s Only a Matter of Time: Clock Hours vs. Competency
Get PDFWhat does it mean to be competent and why is this so important? While there is no generally accepted definition of competency, there are key components that should guide the emerging movement of competency-based education (CBE). In addition, entry-level massage curricula typically run from approximately 500 clock hours to 3000 hours or more. This discrepancy demonstrates markedly divergent opinions on what constitutes the required amount of time (content) for entry-level massage and bodywork curriculum. Some programs have begun using competency models, but there is no broad implementation of CBE. A first step is to come to some agreement on what competencies are actually needed for an entry-level massage therapist. A current effort is underway in the United States that should lay essential groundwork for greater adoption of CBE model
Are personal characteristics of massage therapists associated with their clinical, educational, and interpersonal behaviors?
Get PDFBackground: Social Cognitive Theory suggests that characteristics of health professionals, such as their beliefs in the effectiveness of their care, influence their behavior. Studying the characteristics of massage therapists may, therefore, provide insight into their clinical, educational and interpersonal behavior, which ultimately affects their client interactions.
Purpose: To examine the association of three personal factors (outcome expectations, expectancies, and practice experience) of the massage therapist and the practice environment with the frequency of three interventional behaviors (clinical, educational, and interpersonal) using Social Cognitive Theory as a theoretical framework.
Methods: A random sample of licensed massage therapists in Iowa completed a mailed questionnaire. Questions included training in massage, use of specific massage techniques and practices, 11 outcome expectations, and 17 different behaviors with their respective expectancies for contributing to favorable client outcomes. Factor analyses were conducted on the behavior and expectancy items. Regression analyses were used to examine the relationship of massage therapist characteristics to the different categories of behavior.
Results: The response rate was 40% (N = 151). The most common techniques employed were Swedish massage, trigger point therapy, and stretching. The most common practices recommended to clients were encouraging water intake, heat application, stretching, stress management, and exercise counseling. Expectancies was the only Social Cognitive Theory variable that significantly predicted the frequency of every category of behavior (clinical, interpersonal, education; all ps < .01). Outcome expectations predicted clinical (p = .03) and educational (p < .01), but not interpersonal behavior. No other associations reached statistical significance.
Conclusions: Massage therapists’ belief in massage to enact a favorable change in a client is strongly associated with their clinical, educational, and interpersonal behavior. Massage therapists were optimistic regarding the ability of massage to provide a favorable outcome, especially if the desired outcome was supported by research
Case Reports: A Meaningful Way for Massage Practice to Inform Research and Education
Get PDFPractice-induced challenges to massage research and education include those related to disparate training standards, requirements, and expectations across the US, North America, and internationally. These challenges should not overshadow the need for practice to inform research and education, especially in light of the move towards effectiveness research. What remains constantly applicable to massage practitioners of all locations and from all backgrounds are treatment details regarding the techniques used, client/patient characteristics, condition/issue of complaint, provider and client/patient expectations, and outcomes. Case reports provide a venue for this information to be shared across all practitioners, educators, and researchers. While many massage practitioners are not trained in scientific writing, preparing and publishing a case report need not be daunting, especially with writing partners when writing burden can be shared. Writing in isolation can be challenging, even for trained researchers. Perceived practitioner contribution and credit are not reduced when authorship in a manuscript is shared; rather it may be enhanced with an experienced partner
Correlates of Injury-forced Work Reduction for Massage Therapists and Bodywork Practitioners†
Get PDFBackground: Injury-forced work reduction (IFWR) has been acknowledged as an all-toocommon occurrence for massage therapists and bodywork practitioners (M & Bs). However, little prior research has specifically investigated demographic, work attitude, and perceptual correlates of IFWR among M & Bs.
Purpose: To test two hypotheses, H1 and H2. H1 is that the accumulated cost variables set ( e.g., accumulated costs, continuing education costs) will account for a significant amount of IFWR variance beyond control/demographic (e.g., social desirability response bias, gender, years in practice, highest education level) and work attitude/perception variables (e.g., job satisfaction, affective occupation commitment, occupation identification, limited occupation alternatives) sets. H2 is that the two exhaustion variables (i.e., physical exhaustion, work exhaustion) set will account for significant IFWR variance beyond control/demographic, work attitude/perception, and accumulated cost variables sets.
Research Design and Participants: An online survey sample of 2,079 complete-data M & Bs was collected. Stepwise regression analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. The research design first controlled for control/demographic (Step1) and work attitude/perception variables sets (Step 2), before then testing for the successive incremental impact of two variable sets, accumulated costs (Step 3) and exhaustion variables (Step 4) for explaining IFWR.
Results: Results supported both study hypotheses: accumulated cost variables set (H1) and exhaustion variables set (H2) each significantly explained IFWR after the control/demographic and work attitude/perception variables sets. The most important correlate for explaining IFWR was higher physical exhaustion, but work exhaustion was also significant. It is not just physical “wear and tear”, but also “mental fatigue”, that can lead to IFWR for M & Bs. Being female, having moreyears in practice, and having higher continuing education costs were also significant correlates of IFWR.
Conclusions: Lower overall levels of work exhaustion, physical exhaustion, and IFWR were found in the present sample. However, since both types of exhaustion significantly and positively impact IFWR, taking sufficient time between massages and, if possible, varying one’s massage technique to replenish one’s physical and mental energy seem important. Failure to take required continuing education units, due to high costs, also increases risk for IFWR. Study limitations and future research issues are discussed
Massage Efficacy Beliefs for Muscle Recovery from a Running Race
Get PDFBackground: Belief in efficacy of CAM therapies has been sparsely reported and may be different than reported use of the therapy.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify efficacy beliefs of massage for muscle recovery following a 10-km running race.
Setting: Finish zone of a 10-km race.
Research Design: Participants completed a brief survey regarding running race characteristics, prior use of massage, and belief in efficacy of massage regarding muscle recovery from the race.
Participants: The subject pool consisted of 745 individuals who completed a running race and were within 60 minutes of race completion.
Main Outcome Measures: Subjects reported demographic information (age, gender), race information (finish time, perceived exertion, muscle soreness, fatigue), prior use of massage, and belief regarding efficacy of massage for postrace muscle recovery.
Results: Most study participants believed that massage would benefit muscle recovery following the running race (80.0%), even though only 43.9% had received a massage previously. Those who had received at least one massage were significantly more likely to believe that massage would benefit muscle recovery (91.9% vs. 70.4%, p < .001). Females were more likely than males to have had a massage (52.3% vs. 36.0%, p < .001) and to believe it would benefit recovery (83.1% vs. 77.1%, p = .046).
Conclusions: Massage is well-accepted as a muscle recovery aid following a running race, but females and those who have used massage were significantly more likely to perceive it as advantageous. Belief in a therapeutic value of massage for muscle recovery exceeds its reported use
Better or Worse: a Study of Day-to-Day Changes over Five Months of Rosen Method Bodywork Treatment for Chronic Low Back Pain
Get PDFBackground: Fluctuations of good days and bad days—in physical symptoms and emotional states—are common for individuals with chronic illness. This pilot study examines these fluctuations during bodywork treatment.
Purpose: We analyzed changes in daily selfreports over a period of five months for five individuals who received weekly treatments of Rosen Method Bodywork (RMB), which uses touch and words to enhance body awareness of physical sensations and emotional states.
Subjects and Design: Five subjects (aged 31–56) who had chronic low back pain (CLBP) received 16 weekly treatments given by three experienced RMB practitioners.
Measures: Pre- and posttreatment assessments covered demographics, disability, and pain. Clients also completed daily bedtime assessments of pain, fatigue, emotional state, and sense of control during the entire treatment period.
Results: All clients reported reductions in pain and/or disability in post- compared to pretreatment. In spite of a high level of day-to-day variability in the daily assessments, there were significant reductions in pain and fatigue, and significant increases in positive emotional state and sense of control across the treatment period. In reaching this end, however, some clients had slow and steady improvements, some improved more rapidly, while others got worse before they got better.
Conclusions: The natural course of healing— with its inevitable fluctuations in symptoms—is part of a process leading to successful treatment outcomes. Rosen Method Bodywork may be especially helpful in developing and accepting both sensory and emotional body awareness changes that facilitate overall improvement