Features Op-Ed
From the Editor: Spring 2010

Our profession is continually faced with concerns regarding recognition by other health-care professionals, coverage through benefits, public awareness, usage, regional saturation and earnings, to name but a few. Added to all this, massage therapists are mandated to earn continuing education units in various areas. Things seem to get even more convoluted when massage therapists begin considering all the various potential types of workplaces available to them, and whether some might be more, or less, appropriate as venues for developing the profession. For example, in recent issues of Massage Therapy Canada we have looked at massage therapists’ views of working in a spa setting. We posted a poll on our website to ask: Is the spa an appropriate venue for a registered massage therapist to work? The results of this poll were as follows: 38.1 per cent responded, “Yes, as long as the emphasis is on massage therapy”; 33.3 per cent polled answered, “No, massage therapy should be conducted in a clinical environment”; 28.6 per cent felt that “yes, where the work is done is irrelevant.” Clearly, there is a division here that is worth considering carefully.

However, these questions and issues need not divide or discourage massage therapists. With respect to continuing education units, therapists can approach this requirement with the goal of using the information to further their business, ultimately serving the public, the profession, as well as themselves. With respect to work environment, approaches can also be taken to harness potential benefits for the therapist and the profession as a whole.

This Spring issue provides a collection of articles that have been assembled around the theme of enhancing your practice / business and includes considerations of CEUs, technologies, staffing, website use and a number of other strategies for increasing patient flow while preserving your longevity as a professional, enhancing your public visibility and retaining ethical patient-centred practices.

I would like particularly to call your attention to page 27 of this issue, where you will find an article provided by Don Dillon, RMT, titled “State of the Industry – So what does a massage therapist earn?” The article provides important and new information regarding practice trends in our profession that every RMT should be acquainted with. A special thanks to Don for his ongoing research of factors affecting therapists in the profession in Canada.

Please remember to visit Massage Therapy Canada’s website at www.massagetherapycanada.com , where you can view Don Dillon’s full article with references, as well as all the other informative articles in this issue.

Jill Rogers, RMT
jrogers@annexweb.com