Features Research
Support MT research in May – and beyond!

 The massage therapy research fundraising program – which
will be launched by the KYBB May initiative but will be ongoing after that – allows
for the grassroots support of MT research by those in the profession directly
and is the vanguard of a new approach to professional philanthropy and
activism.

KYBB
has been a supplier of quality name brand products for the massage therapy and
multi-disciplinary medical fields since 1991. Recently, through their donation
programs, they have provided their customers with the added benefit of
supporting a charitable organization through their purchases. This popular
program is now focused on providing support to IN-CAM (www.incamresearch.ca) and its MT research efforts.

“I am
delighted to support research in massage therapy in Canada,” notes Donna
Micallef, co-owner of KYBB.  “At
KYBB, by donating a dollar from every invoice we produce in the month of May to
IN-CAM we know that we can make a difference in the profession and help promote
research-informed practice.  
We encourage other corporate suppliers, practitioners, and clients of
massage to join us.”

The
funds raised through the visionary Know Your Body Best initiative will be used
by IN-CAM and its Massage Therapy Special Interest Group (MT-SIG) to support
massage therapists in using the best available evidence for improving patient
care and patient outcomes while increasing the knowledge needed to work in
diverse, and increasingly complex, health care environments. This will, in
turn, support the professionalization of MT by creating a vibrant national
network of MT researchers, educators, policy makers and practitioners.

IN-CAM
is a national collaborative interdisciplinary research network in the field of
complementary, alternative and integrative medicine (CAM/CAIM), whose mission
is to advance high quality and rigorous research in Canada on a diverse range
of complementary therapies, including massage therapy.

IN-CAM
funds the Canadian CAM Research Fund (CCRF), administers the Massage Therapy
Research Fund (MTRF), supports academic and clinician researchers through
IN-CAM Special Interest Groups (SIGs), provides research education, and makes
CAM research information accessible.

IN-CAM
directly supports MT research through the MT-SIG and its facilitated working groups.

The
MT-SIG is a group of individuals from diverse MT backgrounds, working
collaboratively to advance research and research informed practice in massage.
Members of the MT-SIG are members of IN-CAM and are: practitioners, educators,
researchers, policy makers and administrators.

The
MT-SIG formed at the IN-CAM Symposium in November 2012 and developed its first
two, action-oriented and subject-specific working groups. The first group is
identifying and documenting MT research resources (human, financial,
technological). This work will provide an outline of current resources that can
be used to guide and advance future research infrastructure development for the
profession. Group two is developing a set of research competencies and
performance indicators for entry to practice that will further inform MT
educational standards and practices while providing supportive tools to
educators.

The
fund-raising program provides a
new and exciting venue for members of the profession to support activities that
enrich the future of MT through the development of a strong research network
for their profession.

If you,
and/or your corporate group would like to donate, please go to http://www.incamresearch.ca/index.php?id=84,0,0,1,0,0&menu=20
and follow the easy steps. A tax receipt for donations of $25.00 or more will
be mailed to you from the University of Calgary.

For inquiries
regarding donations to IN-CAM, contact Ania Kania at akania@ucalgary.ca