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Touching Lives: Massage for Elders and Those in Hospice Care

Published: 04/06/2010 by Ann Catlin, LMT, OTR

If you feel drawn to work with elders, the ill or those in end-of-life care there has never been a better time. As our population ages, greater numbers of older adults will be seeking ways to live well longer or to find relief from the symptoms of the conditions affecting them. If you have the knowledge, skills and sensitivity to meet their needs, there is potential for your practice to thrive. Many elders will require the assistance of a care facility due to debilitating illness or injury. The doors are opening for massage therapists to work in long term care facilities as evidence shows that skilled touch improves the quality of life of the individuals who reside there. Public awareness and access to hospice and palliative care will continue to expand and massage is an effective, non-pharmacological approach for comfort care. Keep in mind that nursing homes, hospice organizations and hospitals are businesses, too, and they are continually looking for innovative programs to attract customers in their changing and competitive market. Bringing a massage therapist on board does just that.

The good news is that the potential for you to successfully expand your practice will only increase. What’s more, working with individuals in this special population gives you the opportunity to serve others in a way that is profound and it can be the most uplifting and deeply rewarding work you will ever do.

Long term care and hospice settings more widely acknowledge the value of massage in improving the quality of life of people living with the effects of aging, disease or disability. The use of massage therapy by adults over age 65 has tripled since 1997 according to a consumer survey by AMTA. Touch is essential to being human and the need for touch may actually increase in old age or when faced with a life limiting illness. However, in our society, these individuals are often deprived of the kind of touch that is essential to quality of life. In his book, Touching: the Human Significance of the Skin, Ashley Montagu states “The use of touch and physical closeness may be the most important way to communicate with ill and aged persons that they are still important as human beings.”

Massage and focused touch that is offered with mindful presence promotes relaxation and reduces stress, as well as offers comfort and reassurance easing physical, emotional and spiritual pain. Touch can be the link to healing in its truest form, a sense of wholeness. Compassionate Touch® is a complementary approach created specifically this special population. It combines one-on-one focused attention, intentional touch and sensitive massage with specialized communication skills to help enhance quality of life for this special population. This approach is unique in that it is more than a set of techniques. Therapists are empowered to affirm his/ her ability to be a healing presence to others—touch and massage are the medium for relating to the individual served. Special emphasis is placed on working with elders with dementia and how touch can support the dying person.

Massage therapists have a unique opportunity to reclaim the power of the human touch in caregiving. Working with frail elders or the dying requires unique qualities and skills including knowledge of conditions related to aging or life limiting illness, modified massage techniques, communication skills, adaptability and an openness to be face to face with very real and, at times, a very raw human condition. The use of caring and compassionate touch gives you the opportunity to contribute to another human being in a way that is both simple… and profound. And you, too, will experience rewards—an increased belief that you can make a real difference, a deeper sense of meaning in your work as a massage therapist and the realization that, in the process of reaching out, you, too have been touched.