Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/72343
SOMATIC RESEARCH research and obtaining funding as primary investigators, we must find ways to contribute and influence the research going on now. OPPORTUNITIES IN RESEARCH I am a research consultant, working periodically since 1996 for the Group Health Research Institute. Group Health is a health management organization (HMO) with many health clinics in the Seattle area, originally established in 1947 as a cooperative of physicians with the intent to provide affordable, quality health care. The research arm was created in 1983, and has since published more than 2,200 scientific journal articles, collaborating with various institutions such as Harvard Medical School, the University of Washington, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.4 I do not have a doctorate in science or medicine; however, I have solid expertise in massage therapy. My expertise was in demand, requested by researchers at Group Health, and my contributions varied over 15 years. I have consulted on six massage research projects with Group Health, each spanning 2–3 years, and was a primary author on the massage taxonomy paper that came out of the protocol development of the studies, with Karen Sherman, PhD, leading the writing team.5 My participation ranged from answering basic questions regarding massage therapy and practice posed by researchers unfamiliar with massage, to advising protocol development and selecting and training massage therapists to provide the massage protocols to participants. A variety of opportunities arise for massage therapists in projects like the ones I work on. Let's look at one project in particular and dissect the many paid positions a massage therapist can hold. This project is one you might be very familiar with, a study recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine: "Comparison of the Effects of 2 Types of Massage and Usual Care on Chronic Low Back Pain, an RCT."6 The results were featured on National Public Radio,7 Time magazine's ezine Healthland, the Los Angeles Times, and Science Daily,8 in the Washington Times, to name a few, and have stirred up a good deal of discussion among therapists. I have referenced this study in two previous articles, citing the presentation Dan Cherkin gave at the Highlighting Massage Therapy in CAM Research conference held in Seattle, May 2010. Now that it is published, we can discuss details of the study and identify the various opportunities for interaction between researchers and consultants. Let's start with the finances. Research is expensive. Someone has to pay for our expertise and the salaries of researchers, statisticians, etc. This study was funded by tax dollars—$2.1 million to be precise. The US government funds organizations such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate the safety and efficacy of our health-care delivery systems and services. NCCAM is a subdivision of NIH dedicated to investigating the safety and efficacy of nonconventional forms of health care. NCCAM accepts grant proposals from researchers and distributes proposals to research review teams for evaluation and to make recommendations for funding. Once an award has been made, NCCAM staff monitor the use of the funds. At this point, no massage therapists have been paid for their role in the study. The grant was written by two principal investigators (PIs) with doctorates, neither of whom are massage therapists. The NCCAM staff did not include massage therapists at the time of the study, although they currently have one massage therapist on the National Advisory Council (NACCAM). This is an unpaid position. The review team may have included a massage therapist, but that, too, is an unpaid position. Until recently, massage therapists were not included on research review committees or on NACCAM. Even unpaid, those are positions of great honor, and we can feel proud to have massage therapists sitting at those tables today. Next, we go to the institute conducting the study: Group Health Research Institute. The organizational chart is impressive on a $2.1 million study, with more than 70 employees, consultants, and practitioners dedicated to the study. Only one of the six administrative and scientific leadership roles was held by a massage therapist: Janet Kahn, PhD, LMT, coinvestigator, a paid consultant. Kahn was instrumental in each phase of the study. In addition to participating in the research method's design and hypothesis development, she led the team that developed the protocol, created the training materials for the protocol training, and monitored the treatment forms as they were submitted, keeping an eye out for discrepancies. It is critical that the massage therapists adhere to the protocols assigned to each participant; Kahn ensured the protocol was followed. In research operations, one of 13 positions was held by a massage therapist. This was a full-time research specialist position, held by Marissa Brooks, LMP. Between the leadership, administration, and operations teams, we have two paid massage therapists, one in a high-level position with an advanced degree, the other interested in learning more about research enough to get a full-time job in a low- level research position, and maintain her massage practice on a part-time basis on evenings and weekends. 118 massage & bodywork november/december 2011