Health News
RMT’s provide quality of life for cancer patients
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, massage therapy is one of the most popular complementary therapies utilized by people living with cancer. While there is no evidence that suggests massage therapy can treat this disease, it is recognized for its efficacy in providing physical and emotional benefits to the cancer patient, helping improve their quality of life.
April 9, 2018 By Mari-Len De
Photo: Rawpixel.com There is growing body of research on the effectiveness of massage therapy, and other complementary and alternative therapies, to help ease pain, depression, fatigue and other symptoms associated with cancer. It makes one wonder why only a handful of massage therapists find work or choose to work in hospitals or hospices.
Canada’s aging population is also an opportunity for RMTs to be included in health teams for geriatric care. Our public health system is barely able to keep up with the needs of our seniors. The potential to serve and help our senior population navigate through their health concerns and needs has never been more compelling.
Massage therapists’ ability to improve the physical and emotional state of patients as they go through their challenging health conditions should be amplified.
Professional associations are starting to plant the seeds for more meaningful roles for RMTs in the wider health-care system, through advocacies and public information campaigns. They also need better ways to get the information out to practitioners. RMTs often work in isolation that they miss out on vital opportunities to engage the profession. Knowledge translation is also key as important research needs to find its way from the labs and institutions to the clinics and in the hands of RMTs.
Interested in providing care for cancer patients? Would you like to do more to help our senior citizens using your healing skills? Call the hospices or hospitals in your community, or even your professional association.
Take the first step. You never know where it will take you.
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