Exploring the Nature of Therapeutic Massage Bodywork Practice

Porcino, Antony; Boon, Heather; Page, Stacey; Verhoef, Marja J.

doi:10.3822/ijtmb.v6i1.168

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…( 24 ) Despite being separated in time, training, and geography (USA and Canada vs. Australia), there is a strong overlap of the conceptualisation of their work and even their language with the participants of this study. Porcino et al ( 24 ) and Fortune & Hymel ( 32 ) included statements from their participants such as:…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…( 51 , 52 ) This theme supports and extends the findings of the existing massage therapy studies that investigate how massage therapists work. ( 24 , 32 , 33 ) The therapists in those studies were found to “operationalise their work in unique and nonstandard ways” (Fortune, Table 1 , p.28) ( 32 ) by also focusing on the creation of individualised treatments rather than reliance on routines or protocols. This included both “deliberate individualization” and “spontaneous individualization” (Porcino, p.19).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…“Every (patient) has to be individualized, ‘cause everybody is different (Practitioner 16)” (p.18). ( 24 )…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only a small number of studies have directly explored what massage therapists do in a treatment session or their clinical reasoning process. Porcino et al ( 24 ) interviewed massage therapists to learn more about how they worked and found that individualisation of treatment was a core value of massage therapists. Their participants considered that massage expertise was developed as the therapist became even more skilled at tailoring treatments to the needs of the client.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(22) There is also lack of def inition around what a massage treatment involves, and how massage therapists combine individual techniques. (6,(23)(24)(25) Massage therapists often express a wish for clinical research, (10,(26)(27)(28) yet indicate that studies often do not reflect the way they work with their own clients, and thus they hesitate to incorporate the so-derived evidence. (24,26,28,29) A review of natural therapies by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) (6) stated that many RCTs or SRs did not report on "the intensity or depth of massage therapy, the method of applying touch, the theoretical framework underlying the intervention or the training and experience of the massage therapist".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What is Effective in Massage Therapy? Well, “It Depends…”: a Qualitative Study of Experienced Orthopaedic Massage Therapists

Stewart-Richardson,

Hopf,

Crockett

et al. 2024

IJTMB

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Background: Massage has been used as a treatment for musculoskeletal pain throughout history and across cultures, and yet most meta-analyses have only shown weak support for the efficacy of massage. There is a recognised need for more research in foundational questions including: how massage treatments are constructed; what therapists actually do within a treatment, including their clinical reasoning; and what role therapists play in determining the effectiveness of a massage treatment. Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore what experienced orthopaedic massage therapists consider to be the aspects of their work that contribute to effectiveness. Setting and Participants: Semi- structured interviews were conducted via Zoom with six experienced orthopaedic massage therapists in Australia.Research Design: The interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis, seeking insights that might be practically applied, rather than theory-driven interpretations. Results: The participants focused on the underlying differences between clients, between therapists, and between treatments, and clearly indicated that this concept of “difference” was foundational to their view of their work and was the underlying context for the comments they made. Within that frame of “difference”, three key themes were interpreted from the data: (1) “Everyone is different so every treatment is different”: how they individualised treatment based on these differences; (2) “How therapists cope with difference”: how they managed the challenges of working in this context; and (3) “What makes a difference”: the problem-solving processes they used to target each treatment to meeting the client’s needs. Conclusions: Participants did not identify specific techniques or modalities as “effective” or not. Rather, a therapist’s ability to provide effective treatment was based on an iterative process of treatment and assessment that allowed them to focus on the individual needs of the client. In this case “effectiveness” could be considered a process rather than a specific massage technique.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…“Every (patient) has to be individualized, ‘cause everybody is different (Practitioner 16)” (p.18). ( 24 )…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

What is Effective in Massage Therapy? Well, “It Depends…”: a Qualitative Study of Experienced Orthopaedic Massage Therapists

Stewart-Richardson,

Hopf,

Crockett

et al. 2024

IJTMB

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Massage Therapy for Psychiatric Disorders

Rapaport

Schettler

Larson

et al. 2018

FOC

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Model structure for protocol adherence utilizing a manualized therapeutic massage intervention

Larson

Kinkead

Edwards

et al. 2018

Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine

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Background The Protocol Training and Assessment Model (Model) was developed through collaboration between Emory University School of Medicine and Atlanta School of Massage to minimize intra- and inter-therapist variability for two research massage therapist (rMT) applied intervention arms in the Massage for Cancer-Related Fatigue (MCRF) early-phase study. The Model was followed to maintain and assess protocol integrity for the study’s manualized Swedish massage therapy (SMT) and light touch (LT) interventions. Methods The Model includes initial rMT training, quarterly retraining sessions, accessible resources (scripts, treatment guides, weekly research personnel meetings), and ongoing monitoring. Model efficacy was assessed by monitoring data collected at retraining sessions, through audio recording review, and through subject and rMT reporting. Results Model application resulted in a high level of intervention consistency throughout the study. Protocol-related session comment rate by subjects was 2.7%. Few study participants reported intra-rMT or inter-rMT treatment delivery differences. Observation during retraining sessions indicated massage therapists continued to adhere to protocols. Importantly rMTs increased their participation beyond core duties, suggesting additional ways to standardize subject treatment experience. Conclusions Through systematic application of the Protocol Training and Assessment Model, continuous and collaborative quality improvement discussions between scientists and research massage therapists resulted in reliable, standardized SMT and LT interventions for the MCRF early-phase study. Future research can apply the Model to support and assess consistent rMT-delivered intervention applications.

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Exploring the Nature of Therapeutic Massage Bodywork Practice

Cited by 14 publications

References 25 publications

What is Effective in Massage Therapy? Well, “It Depends…”: a Qualitative Study of Experienced Orthopaedic Massage Therapists

What is Effective in Massage Therapy? Well, “It Depends…”: a Qualitative Study of Experienced Orthopaedic Massage Therapists

Massage Therapy for Psychiatric Disorders

Model structure for protocol adherence utilizing a manualized therapeutic massage intervention

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