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MTAM Legislative Initiative Update

Sept. 7, Winnipeg, Man. – The Massage Therapy Association of Manitoba (MTAM) has been informed that its application for the regulation of massage therapy in the province under the “Regulated Health Professions Act” has completed its first review process within the Minister’s office.

September 7, 2012  By Massage Therapy Canada


The
Honourable Theresa Oswald, Minister of Health for Manitoba, informed the MTAM
that its application presented to the Minister in early May has now been
referred to the “… Health Professions Advisory Council (HPAC) to investigate
and advise whether massage therapists in Manitoba should be regulated under the
Act, and if so, what would be the appropriate college, scope of practice,
reserved acts and titles.”

The MTAM
is the 24th health profession to make application for regulation in
Manitoba and is participating together with the Paramedics Association of Manitoba
(number 23 to apply) in the new application process described in the Act. The
MTAM has recently launched a public awareness program titled “Massage
Therapists want to be #24”. The program is designed to raise public awareness
of the application process. (Visit the MTAM website at www.mtam.mb.ca for details.)

Executive
Director, George Fraser noted that “… the review process in Manitoba will be
launched in an electronic format that will allow anyone to participate in
supporting the application or commenting on the application itself. It will be
entirely interactive.”  The government will be announcing the contact site
in the near future.

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The MTAM
application is centered on the recently approved “Interjurisdictional
Practice Competencies and Performance Indicators for Massage Therapists at
Entry-to-Practice (2012).”
This document was created and approved by the three regulated provinces
(Newfoundland & Labrador/Ontario & British Columbia). Non-regulated
provinces and schools also played a role in reviewing the document and
providing oversight. The document received a very high ‘validity’ rating from
RMTs across the country. The process was funded by the Federal Government
through the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC). The intent
of the project was to meet Labour Mobility legislative requirements within
Canada.

The
initial process began in 2010 and a final draft document was circulated in
January 2012. It received final input at a national meeting held in March of
this year. Changes noted from the draft document to the final document were:

147
Practice Competencies (PCs)

          
·      
compared to 148 PCs in draft document and 150 PCs in the 2010 Competency
Profile

502
Performance Indicators (PIs)

·      
compared to 494 PIs in the draft document

40
‘conditions’ are listed in the Appendix

·                
compared
to 43 conditions in draft document and 34 conditions in the 2010 Competency
Profile.

 

For more
information, contact George Fraser, executive director for the MTAM, at gfraser@mtam.mb.ca or by phone at 204-927-7977
or toll free at 1-866-605-1433.


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