The Effects of Employer-Provided Massage Therapy on Job Satisfaction, Workplace Stress, and Pain and Discomfort

Back, Chris, BSc, CCPE, Tam, Helen, Lee, Elaine, Haraldsson, Bodhi

Long-term care staff have high levels of musculoskeletal concerns. This research provided a pilot program to evaluate the efficacy of employer-funded on-site massage therapy on job satisfaction, workplace stress, pain, and discomfort. Twenty-minute massage therapy sessions were provided (treatment techniques reflected massage therapy for the purposes of general relaxation rather than specific therapy). Evaluation demonstrated possible improvements in job satisfaction, with initial benefits in pain severity, and the greatest benefit for individuals with preexisting symptoms. A long-term effect was not demonstrated.

Holistic Nursing Practice. 23(1):19-31, January/February 2009. – abstract

Full text available in  through MTABC member only website (link) under the research tab and then library.

DOI:10.1097/01.HNP.0000343206.71957.a9

Can Classical Acupuncture Points and Trigger Points Be Compared in the Treatment of Pain Disorders? Birch’s Analysis Revisited

Dorsher, PT

Background: A 1977 study by Melzack et al. reported 100% anatomic and 71% clinical pain correspondences of myofascial trigger points and classical acupuncture points in the treatment of pain disorders. A reanalysis of this study’s data using different acupuncture resources by Birch a quarter century later concluded that correlating trigger points to classical acupuncture points was not conceptually possible and that the only class of acupuncture points that could were the a shi points. Moreover, Birch concluded that no more than 40% of the acupuncture points examined by Melzack et al. correlated clinically for the treatment of pain (correlation was more like 18%–19%).Objective: To examine Birch’s claims that myofascial trigger points cannot conceptually be compared to classical acupuncture points and that most (at least 60%) of the classical acupuncture points examined by the study of Melzack et al. are not recommended for treating pain conditions, negating their findings of a 71% clinical pain correspondence of trigger points and acupuncture points.Methods: Acupuncture references and literature were reviewed to examine the validity of the Birch study findings.Results: Acupuncture references support the conceptual comparison of trigger points to classical acupuncture points in the treatment of pain disorders, and their clinical correspondence in this regard is likely 95% or higher.

Conclusions: Although separated by 2000 years temporally, the acupuncture and myofascial pain traditions have fundamental clinical similarities in the treatment of pain disorders. Myofascial pain data and research may help elucidate the mechanisms of acupuncture’s effects.

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary MedicineMay 1, 2008, 14(4): 353-359.

doi:10.1089/acm.2007.0810.

A Model for Implementing Integrative Practice in Health Care Agencies

Patterson, C and  Arthur, HM

ver the last few years, there has been increased awareness and use of complementary/alternative therapies (CAM) in many countries without the health care infrastructure to support it. The National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine referred to the combining of mainstream medical therapies and CAM as integrative medicine. The creation of integrative health care teams will definitely result in redefining roles, but more importantly in a change in how services are delivered. The purpose of this paper is to describe a model of the necessary health care agency resources to support an integrative practice model. A logic model is used to depict the findings of a review of current evidence. Logic models are designed to show relationships between the goals of a program or initiative, the resources to achieve desired outputs and the activities that lead to outcomes. The four major resource categories necessary for implementing integrative care are within the domains of a) professional and research development, b) health human resource planning, c) regulation and legislation and d) practice and management in clinical areas. It was concluded that the system outcomes from activities within these resource categories should lead to freedom of choice in health care; a culturally sensitive health care system and a broader spectrum of services for achieving public health goals.

Integrative Medicine Insights 2008:3 13-19

Full article PDF

Integrative medicine: a tale of two clinics

Boon, HS  and Kachan, N

Abstract

The objectives of this paper are to compare and contrast the development of two teams that set out to establish integrative medical clinics, highlighting key issues found to be common to both settings, and to identify factors that appear to be necessary for integration to occur.
Despite the contextual differences between the two programs, a striking number of similar themes emerged from the data. The five most important shared themes were: 1) the necessity of “champions” and institutional facilitators to conceive of, advocate for, and bring the programs to fruition; 2) the credibility of these champions and facilitators (and the credibility of the program being established) was key to the acceptance and growth of the program in each setting; 3) the ability to find the “right” practitioners and staff to establish the integrative team was crucial to each program’s ultimate success; 4) the importance of trust (both the trustworthiness of the developing program as well as the trust that developed between the practitioners in the integrative team); and 5) the challenge of finding physical space to house the programs.

Conclusion

The programs were ultimately successful because of the credibility of the champions, institutional facilitators and the staff members. Selection of excellent clinicians who were able to work well as a team facilitated the establishment of trust both within the team itself as well as between the team and the host institution.

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2008, 8:32

Full article

doi:10.1186/1472-6882-8-32