Massage Therapy (MT) experiences low visibility in Australian palliative care … in practice and research. Internationally, however, MT has widespread acceptability, supported by research reporting benefits of MT as a means of symptom relief and as a facilitator of wellbeing.
This article draws attention to a forthcoming national survey exploring massage therapy in palliative care within Australia.
Photo provided by Candice White
Human need for touch made more conspicuous during the pandemic ……
One of the many phenomena to emerge during those strange and fraught times was the heightened awareness of the negative impact on wellbeing of the absence of touch. Who can forget the images capturing the felt sense of yearning in sequestered outstretched hands, yearning to be in physical contact, to hug, to hold, to be ‘in touch’. This kind of contact, to connect, soothe and comfort, appears integral to human experience. Indeed, it persists as a familiar and welcome, albeit informal and transient, practice in health care. The hand of the nurse gently resting on yours as you wait to enter the operating suite….the simplest of wordless gestures but deeply calming and reassuring.
Systematic application of touch (massage) has a deep history as a healing practice appearing in many forms throughout the world. Until the latter half of the 20th century, training in basic massage was included in nursing curricula of most Western countries.
Now, massage for therapeutic benefit has become increasingly professionalised in Western countries as a distinct healthcare discipline, most often referred to as massage therapy (MT). Extended fields of MT practice include oncology and palliative care where the role of therapists is to deliver skilled compassionate touch to clients/patients to ameliorate symptoms, foster physical comfort and emotional wellbeing and, in keeping with the broad remit of palliative care, to support carers.
And, despite its low profile, MT is being provided to Australians with life-limiting illnesses receiving palliative care.
However, very little is known about to what extent, to whom, by whom, when, where, why or how. It is a practice flying ‘under the radar’.
My doctoral project seeks to address these knowledge gaps. A survey, soon to be distributed to palliative care services throughout Australia, aims to identify characteristics of MT provision in palliative care settings and to identify barriers encountered by organisations not currently providing access to MT. It is intended that each organisation invited to participate will nominate a person within the organisation best placed to respond to questions about service delivery. Participation in the survey is anonymous.
It is hoped that the findings will establish baseline data about MT in Australian palliative care and inform policy and practice concerning the provision of safe, effective, and evidence-based MT for Australians living with a terminal illness.
We would be grateful if administrators/managers of palliative care services keep a ‘look out’ for the email containing further information and the link to the survey in coming weeks.
Ronna Moore
Remedial, Oncology and Palliative Massage Therapist
Graduate Certificate In Palliative Care (UoM)
Graduate Researcher La Trobe University HEC23498
Supervisors: Assoc Prof Hanan Khalil and Adj Prof Bruce Rumbold
As a post-script: a scholarship provided by Palliative Care Victoria a decade ago encouraged/enabled Ronna to undertake post-graduate study, the prelude to this project.