Massage is growing in popularity at hospices around the country, in part due to the great comfort and relaxation it brings to patients. This group discusses the use of massage as an alternative therapy in hospice care.

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  • I am very fortunate to be a paid massage therapist, I have been working for a local hospice agency now for 3 years.  I have 25 clients that i see 2x monthly.  I am located in Saginaw MI.  and I travel any where from 10miles to 60miles to see our clients.  This has been one of the most rewarding times of my life.  I am a Compassionate Touch Paractitioner & Instructor.  The Center for Compassionate Touc specializes in Eldercare, hospice, and palliative care.  I agree there are way to many hospice clients that need our touch and to few massage therapist employed by the hospice agencies.

  • I would be in favor of hospice programs finding funding to pay for massage services for their patients. I have been an active massage volunteer with one organization for a year, and have seen that there is always a waiting list for massage. There are not enough massage volunteers to meet the need of patients. I hear that this is common in other hospice organizations. Often I meet experienced massage therapists who are enrolled in advanced programs at my acupressure school. Often when I talk about hospice massage I hear them say, "I would love to work with hopsice patients, but I can't afford to do the work for free. I need to be paid."
  • Having viewed the beginning, and the current contribution made to hospice care through massage , I am in support of massage programs paying massage professionals now. Being internationally known as a pioneer in massage volunteering and encouraging massage volunteers to come forward ,this is a bold statement.

    I have had a front row seat for the growth of hospice care and massage as an invaluable component of hospice. Massage professionals deserve to be payed now. Sure with funding cuts its difficult; however programs can be created that provide a private contractor model, fund raise for programs or pay practitioners a low scale as some do now. I believe the service is worth hospice programs investigating how payment might be stimulated.

    What do you think?

    Irene smith Author of Providing Massage in Hospice care
  • I know there are a great number of hospice massage programs in the US. The trend in the past 7 or 8 years has been from volunteer programs to paying programs. I would really like to know what type of training massage program managers are requiring from practitioners of either type of program.

    Do co ordinators really know what is needed for a practitioner to work safely with hospice clients?

    As a hospice massage practitioner do you have the skills and training you need ?

    blessings
    Irene Smith author of "Providing Massage in Hospice Care"
  • When I first started with hospice nobody knew what to do with massage at a conference. It was first put under spiritual care, then volunteers, and when alternative medicine became acceptible it found its way under alternative therapies. Massage can actually be placed under all aspects of care.

    I believe for it to become a core component of hospice care the aspects of time management and money management have to be addressed; not just patient outcomes. Bottom line; massage eases anxiety. Anxiety costs time and money to manage; both with patients and also staff burn out. This is the research id like to see.
  • I have been providing massage in hospice care for 26 years. I never use the term alternative therapy. why? Touch is an organic need as is food and water . It is the primary component of comfort care. I believe structured touch , massage, is a natural vehicle for expressing care, It is a compliment to any existing health care agenda. We have to take the term alternative out in order to bring massage more fully into the light.
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