Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/81195
settings impact findings: these are called effectiveness studies. EFFECTIVENESS STUDIES Effectiveness studies look at interventions implemented by professional practitioners. These studies leave the laboratory and enter a close approximation to a true session or treatment room. This is particularly important for massage therapy, which is so highly personalized, but the inherent weakness is that any number of variables may influence results. For instance, what if a massage therapist customizes a session for a particular client: obviously we do this in real life, but at what point are we trying to compare apples to oranges when we then ask how massage impacts various conditions? Other variables include whether the client has some personal issue that interferes with her ability to receive or enjoy a massage on a particular day, or whether client A's pain comes from one source, but client B's pain comes from entirely another; the possibilities for variables that may change results is virtually endless. This is why good effectiveness studies must have a large participation base: when the number of subjects is high, small anomalies don't have a big impact on results. DOSING STUDIES Having settled the questions of efficacy and effectiveness, dosing studies ask about the best combination of modality, frequency, and duration of an intervention for a specific population group. For instance, the best approach for treating people preparing for a marathon who want to train more efficiently probably looks different from the best way to help people with Parkinson's disease who want to sleep better. COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS RESEARCH STUDIES These studies compare different interventions by asking three main questions: "Is this intervention effective in a particular setting, is it financially practical, and is it safe?" Settings might include hospitals, integrated-care clinics, chemotherapy outpatient centers, or others. If the answers to these questions are positive when compared to other options, then the intervention—massage, for instance—can find a home where these studies are conducted. All of these study designs help us gather important data that can influence how we build our business and even our scope of practice. But have you noticed something missing? Efficacy and effectiveness studies— and all their variations—can yield a lot of information about whether massage is as powerful as we think, but none of these approaches asks the quintessential question, "What is really happening when someone receives a massage?" To get at those answers we need mechanistic studies. MECHANISTIC STUDIES Rather than asking if massage works, mechanistic studies ask how massage works, that is, "What are the mechanisms that make changes happen?" This is much harder than it seems. In other scientific disciplines, asking how something works is often "un-mysterious." Laws of physics and chemical reactions are basically predictable and easily explained (at least to the people who speak those languages). But when we take the complexity of a human body, add a JUST RELEASED! The fifth edition of Ruth Werner's A Massage Therapist's Guide to Pathology reflects new research on pathologies, and maintains the focus on not only explaining the disease, but also its applicability and indications in massage therapy. The reader learns how massage influences disease and healing processes, and how massage therapists can offer clients maximum benefits while minimizing risks. Available for $64.95 at 800- 638-3030 or www.lww.com. Celebrate ABMP's 25th anniversary and you may win a refund on your membership. ABMP.com. 39