Massage Therapist for Hospice Patients

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Massage Therapists Ease the Pain of Hospice Patients

The following are excerpts from an article written by By Kate Ruder, KFF Health News: https://rethinking65.com/2023/07/10/massage-therapists-ease-the-pain-of-hospice-patients/

Ilyse Streim views massage for people in hospice care as "whispering to the body through touch."

"It’s much lighter work. It’s nurturing. It’s slow," said Streim, a licensed massage therapist.

Massage therapy for someone near the end of life looks and feels different from a spa treatment. Some people stay clothed or lie in bed. Others sit up in their wheelchairs. Streim avoids touching bedsores and fresh surgery wounds and describes her work as "meditating and moving at the same time." She recalled massaging the shoulders, hands, and feet of one client as he sat in his favorite recliner and watched baseball on TV in the final weeks of his life.

"When you’re dying and somebody touches you without expectation of anything in return, you just get to be," said Streim.

"All hospices, not-for-profit or for profit alike, should aim to include medically-trained massage therapists as part of best holistic care," Hunter Groninger, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University who directs palliative care at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., wrote in an email. Employing these specialists is beneficial and does not diminish the important service of volunteers, particularly in end-of-life care, he added.

In a recent clinical trial of 387 patients in palliative care at MedStar, including some nearing the end of their lives, Groninger, Cates, Jordan, and other co-authors found that massage therapy improved quality of life.