Hospital based massage is any type of massage therapy that is done in a hospital. Hospital Based Massage Therapy is becoming more popular. Massage therapy is found in oncology care centers and is expanding to pain and headache clinics. It is being used in cardiac units as well as in transplant, orthopedics and pediatric units. Massage therapy is used to address some of the most common general symptoms that come with a hospital stay including pain, stress, anxiety, and insomnia.
There are many resources for starting and running a hospital based massage program and opportunities for working in a hospital environment and this website will be organizing them and helping connect people to the right resources for help in starting and running programs. Additional training is required to work with special populations and to understand hospital rules, regulations and procedures. You will need an advanced knowledge of pathology to be able to work with the many patients in hospitals. It requires that you work as a team with hospital doctors and medical staff. (Oh and the staff will need massage too!)
How to start and run a hospital based massage therapy program
How to get a job giving massage in a hospital.
Oncology Massage Therapy
Labor and Delivery Massage
Pre/Post Surgery Massage
Medical Massage therapy for pain in headache and pain clinics.
Getting hospital based massage covered by health insurance. Currently coverage for massage therapy is lacking. The section on Healthcare Integration will help in the efforts to get the coverage that is needed. Many hospital based massage programs offer massage therapy for free. There are a few hospitals that are paying for massage services despite not getting payments from insurance to cover the costs.
Hospital Based Massage Therapy Competencies. Hospital Based Massage Therapy Task Force was formed as part of the Academic Collaborative for Integrative Health (formally known as the Academic Consortium for Complementary & Alternative Health Care) Clinical and Education Working Groups. http://accahc.org/
Specific competencies missing include:
Documentation/charting/ability to clearly state patient assessment and treatment plan; oncology specific training; hospital environment logistics, communications with hospital staff, hospital etiquette (culture), safety issues related to environment; electronic health records (EHR), understanding of appropriate therapeutic relationships, actual hospital experience or internship work experience; medical terminology; understanding of medical devices and precautions; infection control; contraindications for massage; working with healthcare teams (Medical teams).