What is it about?
Mixed-methods research to examine whether therapeutic massage was available during outpatient cancer treatment. The website analysis and telephone survey examined all outpatient cancer treatment facilities in a major metropolitan area: Newark, New Jersey and New York City. The analysis was stratified by different types of cancer centers.
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Why is it important?
Massage for cancer patients is one of the largest areas within massage therapy research. Our analysis sought to begin the exploration of whether the research was being leveraged to improve cancer patient health outcomes. If the research were being accessed and utilized for evidence-based practice to treat cancer-related symptoms/cancer treatment-related symptoms, we would have found widespread incorporation of massage in outpatient cancer care. This did not bear out in our analysis.
Perspectives
The emphasis on a regional analysis was important to allow thorough exploration of all types of cancer centers. The mixed methods approach was necessary because neither the systematic website search, nor the telephone survey, was comprehensive enough to provide an adequate level of information. Our findings indicated that roughly half of the centers offered massage to patients. However, the types of modalities and description of massage sessions suggested that massage therapists (who are licensed healthcare providers in the geographical area covered by the research) were not necessarily performing treatments. The body of massage research is not being adequately leveraged in this metropolitan area for evidence-informed cancer treatment.
Virginia Cowen
Rutgers The State University of New Jersey
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Massage Therapy in Outpatient Cancer Care: A Metropolitan Area Analysis, Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, August 2017, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/2156587217727938.
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