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Professional Concerns

Posted by Irene Smith on April 2, 2010 at 11:00am

I have been concerned for a long time about the way the field of hospice massage is growing. As with any therapeutic intervention that becomes mainstream ,the integrity of the field is suffering.

Practitioners with the desire to serve ;however without sufficient training to work with dying persons, are being hired by program co ordinators that have no knowledge in what is needed to facilitate a safe massage program.

I am alerted to hospice programs taking on massage practitioners that have no training in adaptations from working with healthy people on a massage table to working with seriously symptomatic persons in beds.

Many hospice co ordinators are corporate administrators who believe that a massage certification is all a practitioner needs to massage hospice clients.

Although some schools have continuing education programs for working with the dying, massage schools do not teach working with dying persons in core training as a general rule. Sometimes the topic will be minimally addressed in a geriatric or oncology course.

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Twenty seven years in hospice massage gives me the experience to outline what have proven to be challenges in this field ,and areas of training needed for safe relationships between clients and practitioners, and organizations

If you are a massage program co ordinator, educational director for a massage school, or hospice massage practitioner these are a few of the areas that require knowledge in this field.
*Hands on precautions as pertains to massage not nursing.

*Modification of standard massage techniques to meet the needs of the physically and emotionally fragile client. This includes; intention, amount of pressure facilitated through the hands, the speed of technique delivery, and the duration of a session.

*How to adapt massage for working with people in beds and chairs; including body mechanics for the practitioner. Practitioners need to know how to comfortably reach the client to prevent injury to themselves.


*How to gather sufficient information for treatment assessment.

*How to work in a home setting. This involves working in a bed; being with family; communicating with other team members; reporting; setting limits ,and what to take as equipment.


*How to cope with the emotional impact of clients dying which includes personal coping strategies as well as support systems.

This is a specialized field of service that requires practitioners to have sufficient information, supervision and support for the safety of the client and the massage practitioner.

If you are an administrator , educational director or practitioner reading this please go to my website www.everflowing.org and check out the educational resources. Resources are available to give you the information you need. You may download articles for free that will serve you well. You may also ask questions on this site.. Go ahead use me!!!

Many times patients are so hungry for touching, and practitioners are so hungry to make a difference that they don"t recognize the difference in a safe and unsafe session. It’s up to the integrity of the schools, co ordinators and teachers in this field to see that wisdom prevails.

Blessings

Irene Smith www.everflowing.org

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by Maryclaire Torinus

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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."

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The Changing Face of Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care
Contributing Author - Greg Schneider
HCF Creator & HVA President

Volunteers have a long history of supporting the development and delivery of hospice and palliative care in most countries throughout the world. As hospice and palliative care services anticipate significant increasing and changing demands, it is recognized that volunteers have a vital role to play in supporting the future delivery of services. However, as society changes so too does volunteering.

This multi-author text explores the complex phenomenon of hospice and palliative care volunteering from an international perspective and considers the influence on volunteering of different cultures and constructs. The book also explores the likely impact of changes in hospice and palliative care on volunteers and considers how and why volunteering itself is changing and the subsequent implications for managers, organizations, and policy makers.

This book does not attempt to offer solutions to the many challenges ahead, but rather poses questions that may help to reflect on new possibilities and opportunities.

Review

"The book is well laid out and written in an easy to use manner. It begins with setting the scene of volunteering and the modern context of hospice and palliative care. The book is well referenced and covers a range of topics making for a balanced and thought provoking read." -- Nursing Times

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Editors

Ros Scott, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Dundee, UK and Co-chair, EAPC Task Force on Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care. She is a researcher and voluntary sector consultant with a background in organisational development, research and the development of volunteering and of palliative care organisations. 

Steven Howlett, Deputy Director at Roehampton Business School, London, UK where he teaches undergraduate and post graduate courses in management and ethics. Previously he was Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Volunteering research where he completed many studies on volunteering.
 
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