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
