Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/77400
INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE AND MASSAGE Integrative Medicine in Practice "The 74-year-old man first shuffled in, head down, his face in deep pain. He had never seen a massage therapist, chiropractor, or acupuncturist before, but started seeing all three of us each week, religiously. He had scar tissue in his neck and back from several surgeries and fusions. He had trouble keeping his balance, his body moved as a unit when he turned, and sitting and standing were painful. Today, he has significantly less pain, he is taller, can turn his neck from side-to-side, and can sit and stand without pain. Besides his commitment, it was the fact he was able to come to one place for all three treatments, that he trusted and gave it a chance in the first place (because it was in a hospital), and that we could collaborate as a team that he is a new man, resurrected from despair." Ann Mathews, LMT, Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Colorado Hospital therapeutic roles. "As more people, including doctors, experience its benefits and appreciate the healing power of appropriate human touch, I am confident that massage therapy will soon be offered within most medical centers," Weil says. "Of course, additional sound research will help drive the inclusion of massage in the conventional medicine armamentarium." On that front, he says he would like to see more studies comparing the effects of massage therapy to pharmaceutical agents for the relief of pain and anxiety, cost- benefit analyses of the preventive effects of regular massage, and an investigation into the underlying mechanisms behind the benefits of massage. To succeed in an integrative model, models for how this should look. "We are creating a new model of care," she says. While it may be challenging to work within this model, O'Brien says it's also exhilarating. "You need to see the really, really big picture. You need to think beyond your traditional role as a massage therapist." The challenges facing MTs on an integrative team are similar to those experienced by other health-care providers, O'Brien says. Resilience, she says, is what's needed, as is the need for self-care to avoid burnout. "It's an intense, demanding, often sad, often inspiring and profound environment to work in," she says. "You're a care provider and you're giving a lot of energy to your patients." Replenishing yourself is imperative. Being part of an integrative medicine team is also filled with great rewards. Seeing the patient transform before your eyes is one of them, O'Brien says. When working in a private practice, she explains, clients have made some sort of conscious decision to heal. "In our setting, we are going to the patients' rooms, in many cases when they're not asking for it. We are seeing people who might not otherwise have an opportunity to be exposed to the services, and we're reaching a wide, often underserved population. You know you're helping them make a difference for their own future." THE INTEGRATIVE PARTNERSHIP As massage therapists continue to be included in the integrative model, whether in a hospital, clinic, or private practice, there are some things they should do to ensure their Healey says most massage therapists have the right academic knowledge (although a contraindications refresher would be helpful), but not necessarily the environmental experience and considerations. "It's about doing massage in a bright room, with interruptions, on a hospital bed and the body mechanics considerations that go with that, dealing with staff—it's those factors that are lacking, not a particular technique." Proper charting skills and speaking the language, O'Brien says, are also essential to a successful integrative experience. Being able to converse with your colleagues and being able to document your work can speak loudly in a hospital setting. Some suggest a refresher course in pathology is another sound move. Mathews, who considers her integrative hospital work the most satisfying thing she's done in her career, would add a few more to the list. "To be successful in the hospital setting, massage therapists need to be computer-savvy for record keeping, be willing to work with a wide scope of patients and as a 40 massage & bodywork march/april 2011