Health News
AMTA Releases Annual Research on Profession
Feb. 17, Evanston, IL – The American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) fifth annual summary research on the state of the massage therapy profession indicates the massage therapy marketplace is showing signs of improvement. A detailed report focused on the meaning of the research for massage therapy schools and their students was released and discussed today at the AMTA 2012 Massage Schools Summit in Chicago.
February 17, 2012 By Massage Therapy Canada
Consumers
are getting more massages, there are more massage therapists and they are
making more money per hour than last year. The research also shows
massage therapists are increasingly working in health care, one of the fastest
growing sectors of the economy, both as massage therapists and as other health
care workers.
Based
on four surveys conducted for AMTA in recent months, and data from government
agencies, the research continues to show that consumers ultimately determine
the health of the massage therapy profession and that they accept the value of
massage therapy as part of health and well-being.
“AMTA
compiles and analyses a great deal of research each year,” says AMTA President
Glenath Moyle, “to help our members and others in the profession better
understand what is happening nationwide. This information is invaluable to all
of us. Our profession and how massage is accepted by consumers and those
in health care is changing rapidly and this is one way for all of us to keep
up.”
Consumers
also continue to strongly believe in the efficacy of massage, with 90 percent
saying they believe massage can be effective in reducing pain, compared to 86
percent in 2010. Massage for medical reasons greatly increased in 2011, as
consumers used massage to relieve pain, relieve soreness and recover from
injury. Forty-four percent who got a massage said they sought it for
medical reasons, compared to 35 percent in 2010.
Forty-seven
percent of massage therapists indicated their business improved in the past
year, compared to 44 percent in 2010. Last year also saw an increase in
the average hourly income of massage therapists. Sole practitioners
receive the highest pay, while spa/salon workers get the lowest hourly wage.
And, 73 percent describe themselves as
sole practitioners, compared to 65 percent in 2010.
Massage
Therapists also are increasingly using social media to stay in touch with
clients. In 2011, 33 percent of therapists used a social media network to
stay in touch with clients, a 5 percentage point increase over 2010.
Facebook continues to be the most popular social network used by massage
therapists.
Massage
therapists receive referrals from a variety of health care professionals.
In 2011, 96 percent of massage therapists received referrals at least once
every six months from hospitals and medical offices, 90 percent received
referrals from chiropractors and integrated health clinics, and 97 percent received
referrals from other health care practitioners. Meanwhile, the number of
hospitals that offer massage therapy either to inpatients or outpatients,
continues to grow.
Read AMTA’s 2012 Massage Therapy Industry Fact
Sheet at https://www.amtamassage.org/articles/2/PressRelease/detail/2545.
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