Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/70551
MASSAGE IN A HOSPITAL SETTING A physician and assistant professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, Suen attends to geriatric and palliative care patients at Boston Medical Center (BMC). The palliative care patients she works with have various illnesses, such as cancer, dementia, heart failure, or lung disease. They may not be actively dying, but they are seriously ill and often receive medications for pain. After witnessing such a positive patient experience, Suen studied to become a licensed massage therapist, graduating from the Cortiva Institute. Her goal then became bringing massage therapy to patients and staff in the hospital. She hopes massage therapy will continue to be seen as a medically beneficial treatment in a hospital setting, largely because she's seen the positive results. AN UNDERSERVED POPULATION People with a variety of illnesses have turned to massage for relief, and some have sought massage on the advice of a doctor or physical therapist, but even though hospitals across the country are incorporating massage into their treatment protocols more frequently, many people still don't think of massage as a typical hospital treatment. At BMC, massage therapy is working wonders for low- income, minority patients, improving their quality of life and helping them get through often-difficult treatments. BMC is a private, nonprofit academic medical center, and was the general city hospital before merging 10 years ago with the Boston University School of Medicine. Today, it is the region's largest health-care provider to indigent and uninsured patients. The cost-of-living index in Boston is very high, and approximately half of BMC's patients fall below the poverty line. Half are either uninsured or covered by Medicaid, and nearly 70 percent are minorities. The hospital regularly provides more than $350 million in health- care services each year to patients who are unable to pay. For the low-income patients at BMC, even the basics of treatment can be cost-prohibitive, and massage therapy has been unaffordable or just unavailable. In situations where it's all one can do to simply treat an illness, it's nearly impossible for these patients to even entertain the idea of trying and paying for alternative therapy. Massage therapist Cindy Gillan is one of the oncology CE course instructors at Boston Medical Center. Courtesy of Tracy Walton & Associates. Top photo by Nanci Newton. Bottom photo by Stephen Fischer. BRINGING MASSAGE TO THE HOSPITAL Paula Gardiner, MD, was convinced that massage therapy could benefit the patients at BMC. Gardiner is the assistant director of integrative medicine in BMC's Department of 72 massage & bodywork july/august 2012