Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/68013
SOMATIC RESEARCH Historically, massage was a common experience for postsurgical patients. As health care systems have become more complex and administrative demands on nursing time have increased, the tradition of nurse-administered massage has been largely lost. With the recent emphasis on assessing pain as the fifth vital sign tempered by renewed concerns for patient safety, it is time to reintegrate the use of effective and less dangerous approaches to relieve patient distress.7 The more specific the recommendation, the easier it is to see how it might apply to your practice and how to put it into effect. Not all recommendations in research literature, however, are that specific. Van Tilburg et al., in writing about complementary and alternative medicine for functional bowel disorders, make recommendations about filling knowledge gaps and increasing accessibility, leaving a great deal of deciding about how to do so to the reader: Not all patients may be able to afford CAM due to its out-of-pocket costs. By moving CAM therapies with proven effectiveness into regular care, and providing insurance reimbursement for them, CAM can become more widely available. For this to occur we need to fill current knowledge gaps about treatment effectiveness (such as in herbal therapies) and make treatments already known to be effective, such as hypnotherapy and psychotherapy, more readily accessible.8 RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS In addition to making recommendations for practice, the researcher can propose directions for future research, in order to build on the results in the current study. Price points out some possible new directions in research on traumatic dissociation indicated by her study's outcomes: In summary, the study results indicate that dissociation follows a declining pattern for women in body therapy during sexual abuse recovery, and supports future research examining dissociation reduction as a mediator of health outcomes in body therapy. The positive association between dissociation reduction and health outcomes in this sample—in which there were symptoms of moderate dissociation and depersonalization with no indication of dissociative disorder—suggests that depersonalization experiences may be associated with important health concerns and barriers to sexual abuse recovery for this population. Reassociation with the bodily self may be a key to healing problematic dissociation and improving mental and physical health in this population. This is a unique perspective offered by body therapy in trauma recovery, an untapped resource for the study of dissociation—its presentation and its treatment.9 All of these excerpts give just a sample of the amazing variety of studies that can be done about the useful and beneficial possibilities for our healing art—possibilities that are explored most fully in the Discussion section. They also set an implicit agenda for us: how will we make use of these possibilities? How can we add to the conversation? Now that we've finished reviewing the standard IMRaD format, we'll be experimenting with new approaches in upcoming articles. If you have a particular research-related question that you would like to see addressed here, drop me an e-mail with your thoughts and requests. practitioner and biomedical informatician in Seattle, Washington. She has practiced massage at the former Refugee Clinic at Harborview Medical Center and in private practice. In addition to teaching research methods in massage since 1996, she is the author of an upcoming book on research literacy in massage. Contact her at researching.massage@gmail.com. Ravensara S. Travillian is a massage NOTES 1. Allison R. Mitchinson et al., "Acute Postoperative Pain Management Using Massage as an Adjuvant Therapy: a Randomized Trial," Archives of Surgery 142, no. 12 (December 2007): 1158–67. Available at http://archsurg.ama-assn.org/cgi/ reprint/142/12/1158 (accessed April 2009). 2. Maria Hernandez-Reif et al., "Preterm Infants Show Reduced Stress Behaviors and Activity After 5 Days of Massage Therapy," Infant Behavior and Development 30, no. 4 (December 2007): 557–61. Available at www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender. fcgi?artid=2254497&blobtype=pdf (references cited by original text omitted; accessed April 2009). 3. Mitchinson et al., "Acute Postoperative Pain Management Using Massage as an Adjuvant Therapy: a Randomized Trial." 4. Adam I. Perlman et al., "Massage Therapy for Osteoarthritis of the Knee: a Randomized Controlled Trial," Archives of Internal Medicine 166, no. 22 (December 2006): 2,533–8. Available at http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/ reprint/166/22/2533 (accessed April 2009). 5. Mitchinson et al., "Acute Postoperative Pain Management Using Massage as an Adjuvant Therapy: a Randomized Trial." 6. Cynthia Price, "Dissociation Reduction in Body Therapy During Sexual Abuse Recovery," Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 13, no. 2 (May 2007): 116–28. Available at www.pubmedcentral.nih. gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1965500&blobtype=pdf (accessed May 2009). 7. Mitchinson et al., "Acute Postoperative Pain Management Using Massage as an Adjuvant Therapy: a Randomized Trial." 8. Miranda AL van Tilburg et al., "Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use and Cost in Functional Bowel Disorders: a Six Month Prospective Study in a Large HMO," BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 8 (July 2008): 46. Available at http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/ picrender.fcgi?artid=2499988&blobtype=pdf (accessed April 2009). 9. Cynthia Price, "Dissociation Reduction in Body Therapy During Sexual Abuse Recovery." visit massageandbodywork.com to access your digital magazine 135