The purpose of this group is to inform, inspire, and support massage practitioners working with hospice and for hospice managers wanting to create massage programs as a component to hospice care.
18 Members

Confidentiality

As a private practitioner,HIPPA  guidelines create challenges in gathering information to assess appropriate treatment choices for clients. Nonspecific information, such as how a client is feeling that day or what sites or positions are contraindicated for massage, may be given.


Specific information on diagnosis or prognosis may not be shared. As a practitioner associated with an organization I am considered a member of the health care team and provided with all information needed to clearly assess treatment options.

As a private contractor it can be very difficult to receive adequate information. I am now finding myself in this position more often

Having always advocated to get as much information as possible; I now see that sometimes you just cant access the information you need. When this happens to me I go slow, observe, feel, intuit, and always air on the side of caution. This is with thirty years experience to draw from. In the beginning I advise to only see clients whom you have been given sufficient information.

Recently I became a member of an Integrative Wellness Team in an assisted living community. Last week I went to introduce myself to residents and staff to explain my position, intention, and schedule.

 

Seeing a man in a wheel chair, I  kneeled down to have eye to eye contact. I asked if I could touch him before I reached out in an introduction. He said yes and I touched his arm as I introduced myself. We had a verbal exchange.

Soon after our meeting he came over to me and told me to make sure I never touched him without letting him know first because he was a Viet Nam vet and exhibited intense behaviors. He also let me know he was bi polar and that during a session he might change personalities. I thanked him for his trust in sharing this personal information with me and let him know I was looking forward to possibly  providing him with gentle touch.

I want to know physical symptom ology, psychological behaviors; receptivity to touch; position, or site restrictions and precautions. This is sufficient information for me to feel comfortable receiving a new client.

I look forward to hearing your views and experiences with this very important topic.

Blessings,

Irene Smith

You need to be a member of Hospice Community Forum to add comments!

Join Hospice Community Forum

Comments are closed.

Comments

  • Last week a woman named Beth called me to schedule an appointment on the referral of her hospice nurse. I asked if we could explore her situation over the phone first, to see if we were a good match.

    Beth is 84 years old with a 20-year history of Parkinson’s Disease.

    She said she had low back pain and that’s why she wanted a massage. She also explained that she had two brain surgeries 1 year ago. A brain stimulator had been placed in her head with the second surgery. With my encouragement she explained that the wires to the stimulator ran from her chest up the right side of her neck. She was also experiencing right side weakness, and a large open wound on her right leg that wouldn’t heal.

    I asked her if she had experienced massage before, and she said yes. A month prior to our conversation a massage therapist had come over with a table and given her a deep tissue massage.

    I paused and explained that I offered very gentle work for someone with the many sensitive conditions she had explained to me. She did not adjust her request. Beth wanted more deep tissue massage.

    She asked if I could refer someone else.



    After much consideration I let her know that, with my experience, I could not refer her to someone for anything except very gentle massage.

    She was seemingly despondent when she asked me to hold on for a moment.

    She returned to the phone and said, "My sister just reminded me that I was in a great deal of pain after the last massage and fell frequently. She suggests that I try some gentle work."

    This is part of a longer story. Many massage practitioners working with hospice clients as well as co ordinators dont know what the service is about. Massage schools do not teach working with dying persons in core training . Corporate administrators assume that massage practitioners have the training they need. Most administrators in hospice are not versed in what a massage program needs, to be safe for the client as well as the practitioner. Practitioners need training in the following components of this field.

    Hands on percautions

    Modification of standard massage techniques to meet the needs of the physically and emotionally fraigle

    How to adapt massage for working with people in beds and chairs

    How to gather suficient information

    How to cope with the emotional impact of clients dying

    This is a field of service that has to have training behind it
    If you are an administrator or practitioner reading this please go to my website www.everflowing and check out the educational resources. Resources are available to give you the information you need. You may also ask questions on this site. Go ahead use me!!!

    Massage in hospice care is growing fast lets have it grow in a healthy way. Many times patients are so hungry for touching that they dont know the difference in a safe and unsafe session. Its up to the integrity of the people in this field to see that safety prevails.

    Blessings Irene smith author of Providing Massage in Hospice Care
This reply was deleted.

How Do We Identify Pain?

I have just posted on my blog. The topic is a sensitive one and one that I think needs to be discussed. Since it comes up for me as a massage support person I'm bringing it to this group although it does not directly relate to massage. Please read my new post and for the beginning dialogue. Irene Smith

Read more…
0 Replies

Why Massage Support groups Are Needed

Monday night I facilitated the first everflowing Massage support group that ive held in over 10 years. In the 1990's I stopped the groups because no one came.   With massage so in the forefront of hospice offerings Ive decided to start the group again. I am very pleased that this Monday there were 3 therapists here all representing different areas. Two volunteers came from the same hospice group but from different county's, and there was one therapist from a nursing home.    The group was…

Read more…
0 Replies

Massage: Caregiving for Caregivers of the Terminally Ill

Many say that what caregivers need most is caregiving. Relatives caring for the terminally ill at home are particularly in need of support to improve their own quality of life. One form
of nurturing for caregivers that reduces their levels of stress is soft tissue
massage (hand or foot). This strategy has demonstrated beneficial results for 
caregiving relatives of patients receiving palliative home care. (See research and video):…

Read more…
1 Reply

non-verbal communication

Hi Irene, I'm privileged to be working with a centenarian, age 104, who is from a Latin American culture. I speak a little Spanish, which is one of the reasons I was assigned to her. She has had a stroke, and so in addition to having difficulty understanding her language, she is also speaking in a new, made up language that even her family has trouble understanding. So when I meet her, there are many things that prevent us from easily communicating. So I'm really focused on reading her non…

Read more…
2 Replies
 

CAREGIVERS STORE

Recently Published!!
by Maryclaire Torinus

Surviving Hospice: A Chaplain's Journey into the Big Business of Dying Plus: How To Find a Trustworthy Hospice 

This narrative is an insider’s look into the hijacking of hospice by private equity and professional investors and the subsequent harm to patients, their families, and to the interdisciplinary clinical teams. It was released by a NYC publisher on October 31, 2023. For sale on Amazon.

The author, a hospice chaplain, tells end-of-life stories of her patients who were harmed by financially-motivated policies. This is a book for anyone who is embarking on making a choice about a hospice for their loved one, working chaplains, those in training, and those interested in what dying is like with a hospice who places patients as their primary stakeholders.

Maryclaire's experience working for an owner who sold to a private equity firm helped her to realize that the reputation and viability of hospice is in jeopardy. Her goal is to alert all who love hospice to rid it of professional investors.

— Stacy Juba, author, editor, and award-winning health journalist

"Powerful, beautifully written, and eye-opening, this book spotlights the inner workings of a multi-billion-dollar industry and the effect on patients, families, and hospice staff. The author shares poignant accounts of hospice at its best and worst and the hard-hitting truths she learned on her journey. A must-read for family members exploring hospice care."

— Laura Kukowski, CEO, editor, For-Profit Badger Hospice, LLC

"Maryclaire Torinus speaks with authority, providing this essential handbook for choosing a hospice care team and why that selection really matters."

Greg Schneider President, HVA, co-author of The Changing Face of Hospice Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care 

"When I first found out that Maryclaire Torinus was writing this book, I immediately contacted her because in my 25+ years supporting hospice volunteers, I have seen a gradual decline in the quality of care volunteers are permitted to provide the dying and their families. There are a variety of reasons for this that I describe in the Foreward of this book. Maryclaire provides invaluable insights that everyone should know, along with solutions to help others make the right choice in choosing a hospice."

Buy Now