What is it about?
This article explores how people receiving palliative care in a hospice setting experience complementary therapies such as massage, Reiki, reflexology, and guided visualisation. Using interviews with 11 service users, the study examines how these therapies are perceived to support physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing. Participants described how they came to trust the therapies, how talking with therapists offered unexpected emotional support, and how they used relaxation techniques from sessions in their daily lives. While not seen as curative, these therapies helped people feel calmer, sleep better, and cope with anxiety and pain. The study highlights the value of these non-medical therapies in end-of-life care and suggests their role should be more widely recognised and better integrated into palliative services.
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Why is it important?
Complementary therapies are often overlooked in medical settings, especially in palliative care where emotional and psychological support is vital. This research shows that patients value these therapies not only for physical relief but also for the therapeutic relationships and reflective conversations that support coping. The study adds to a small but growing evidence base by showing that the benefits of complementary therapies can extend beyond the session into everyday life. It calls for further research and professional development to help healthcare services integrate these approaches in safe, effective, and meaningful ways.
Perspectives
As a research team combining academic, clinical, and practitioner expertise, we were interested in understanding how service users in hospice care experience complementary therapies. Our aim was to bring forward the voices of people who are often underrepresented in research and to explore the value they place on these therapies in the context of palliative care. What stood out in the narratives was the significance of trust, the emotional insight gained through conversations with therapists, and the way people adapted therapeutic techniques into their everyday lives. These findings prompted us to reflect on how informal psychological support is often embedded in complementary therapy sessions, yet rarely acknowledged in formal healthcare systems. This study underlines the need to recognise and develop this aspect of care more fully within palliative settings.
Jason Vickers
University of Salford
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: An exploration of perceived impact of receiving complementary therapies on service users during the palliative and end-of-life care phase, International Journal of Palliative Nursing, April 2025, Mark Allen Group,
DOI: 10.12968/ijpn.2024.0040.
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