Touching Lives in Eldercare and Hospice

 Hello everyone– I hope you are well. You may have noticed that I have changed the name of my blog.  While I love the idea that we, as massage practitioners, are often the space holder– the stillness in motion–I decided that I wanted the name to more clearly reflect the topic I write about.  And, it’s definitely true that when we massage elders or those in end-of-life care, we touch lives– hence the new name.

A friend just sent me a link to an interesting article in the Annals of Internal Medicine Sept 16, 2008. The name of the article is: Massage Therapy versus Simple Touch to Improve Pain and Mood in Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Trial.  It reports a study of the effect of massage vs only touch in hospice patients living with cancer. 

The abstract I read states:  “Little is known about the effectiveness of massage in managing pain during palliative care. Kutner and colleagues randomly assigned 380 patients with advanced cancer to either massage therapy or simple-touch sessions. Pain and mood improved more after massage therapy than after simple touch, but the 2 treatments had equal effects on pain, quality of life, and analgesic use as measured over 3 weeks. Adverse effects were infrequent and similar in both groups.”

I find this really interesting and affirming!  For years I’ve seen people respond to human touch in ways that are profoundly healing in the moment.  It raises a question in my mind that I’d like to ask you to reflect upon and share your thoughts:

What is it about simple human touch (not massage strokes) that has the power to uplift  mood and alleviate pain?

Your thoughts?  I would love to have a conversation about this.  And isn’t it great to see substantiating information in a medical journal? I think so!
Enjoy the Day,
Ann

No Comments »

Hi All,

I have had the priviledge of working in and/or visiting dozens of long term care facilities over the last 20 years.  I’ve noticed in the last few years that hospice organzations and long term care facilities are partnering to provide end-of-life care. It seems that the quality of this relationship varies a great deal.  Here are two examples from my personal experience:

A nursing home administrator in one skilled nursing facility told me that she doesn’t see the need for hospice to come in to her facility to provide care because “we already do everything that they do”.  Her general impression was that it was duplication of services and a waste of resources and money.  Families are, of course, allowed to request hospice services, but the service is not embraced by this facility.

Another skilled nursing facility I visited demonstrated a very different attitude.  In fact, they had remodeled one whole wing of their building and now lease it to a local hospice organization to use as a residential hospice.  Clearly, the relationship between the two groups is a mutually supportive one. I might add that one of the first things I noticed when I entered the hospice unit was a very nice massage room!  The hospice has massage therapists on staff who provide massage for patients, family and staff.

 In The California Healthcare Foundation’s September newsletter, there is an article that addresses the relationship of hospice and nursing homes.  Here is a brief excerpt.

Collaborative Care: Improving the Hospice-Nursing Home Relationship

September 2008

As the nation’s population ages, nursing homes have become a significant provider of care delivery at the end of life. Hospice services can significantly improve end-of-life care, so a good hospice-nursing home relationship can be a crucial element in delivering such care. The potential benefits of hospices in nursing homes are significant. Nursing homes receive the hospices’ expertise in pain and symptom management, access to enhanced patient benefits such as pharmaceuticals and bereavement support, and access to training resources. Hospices gain access to alternative bed arrangements for inpatient care, round-the-clock support and supervision, and dietary services. Hospices and nursing homes together can better serve the end-of-life care needs of nursing home residents than either could provide on its own. How beneficial the relationship is, however, depends on how well the particular hospice and nursing home are able to cooperate, and creating a good relationship is not always easy. –END–

What do you think about this issue? What do you see as the role of massage in these settings?  Can we play a role in improving the relationship between hospice and eldercare?  Your thought?

I would love to hear from you!
Take good care,
Ann

No Comments »