Clinical Reviews
With comments by Lynn Keegan, RN, PhD, HNC, FAAN
Massage Therapy for Hospitalized Patients
Source: Smith M, et al. Benefits of massage therapy for hospitalized patients: A descriptive and qualitative evaluation. Altern Ther Health Med 1999;5:64-71.
Objective: To uncover and elucidate a range of patient outcomes of a therapeutic massage program within an acute care setting.
Design: Seventy patients, 14 health care providers, and four massage therapists completed surveys and narrative reports.
Setting: A large university hospital.
Patients: One hundred thirteen hospitalized patients received one to four massages during their hospital stay.
Intervention: Massage therapy.
Main Outcome Measures: Narrative data were coded into categories (pain, sleep, tension/anxiety, body awareness, physical functioning, psychological support, enhancing healing, and value). Selected responses were included to elaborate the meanings of these categories.
Results: The most frequently identified outcomes were increased relaxation (98%), a sense of well-being (93%), and positive mood (88%). More than two-thirds of patients attributed enhanced mobility, greater energy, increased participation in treatment, and faster recovery to massage therapy. Thirty-five percent stated that benefits lasted more than one day.
Conclusion: The study supports the value of this hospital massage therapy program, uncovering a range of benefits.
Comments: Some acute and long-term care facilities are instituting massage therapy programs to support their patients’ health, healing, and quality of life. Evaluation of the impact of these programs from the perspective of patients, providers, and therapists is important for administrative decision making and the design of future outcomes research. Historically nurses gave back massages to hospitalized and home care patients in order to relax, stimulate circulation, and transmit hands-on healing. This well-referenced study done by a group of nurses at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center validates that patients respond well to the therapy. Although this study focuses on the qualitative aspects of the therapy, other studies do document positive physiological changes.
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