End of Life Massage- hospice

[Praxis]

I have been an STNA (state tested nursing assistant) for 4 years and will be graduating from Massotherapy School in June....I have had to deal with losing residents and heard about hospice, or end of life massage...I am extremely interested in finding out more about this type of massage, the training requirements and anyone who has knowledge in the area to help me figure out if this is something I may want to get involved with....death is never easy, but if I can help someone relax or feel better, i have accomplished more than anyone will ever know..

 

[SupR]

Bravo for you, RS! There are massage therapists needed so badly in the hospice and critical care field.

First, I can recommend two books (I would also check the authors' websites to see if they offer hands-on workshops -- I'm sure they do!)

The first book is "Massage for the Hospital Patient and Medically Frail Client" by Gayle MacDonald.

The second book is "From the Heart Through the Hands: The Power of Touch in Caregiving" by Dawn Nelson.

I also recently purchased a DVD on "The 'M' Technique" which was created by a critical care nurse (who also went to MT school) from England named Jane Buckle. It is a very light, systematic massage that she has used for years with critical care, hospice and even comatose patients (when one of her comatose patienst finally awoke she said she remembered getting the comforting massage. Pretty cool! )

The Instructional hour-long DVD is $40.00 but also comes with a booklet describing all the strokes and a short test that will give you 4.5 CEUS if you are a certified health professional (CMT/LMT or nurse.) Her website is http://www.RJBuckle.com.

Hope this helps and welcome to the forum!!!!

Sherry

 

[b_witch]

Go to National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
http://www.nhpco.org/templates/1/homepage.cfm
To see hospice providers in your area.
In my county there is a hospice provider that has training for volunteers...they especially like massage therapists and other bodyworkers.
See if you can find something like this.

If you are looking for employment rather than volunteer work you would have to see what kind of healthcare professionals that they normally employ.

 

[Christopher M]

End of Life Massage- hospice

Looking into getting more info for myself at some point in the near future. Planning way ahead for family as I will be the caregiver for my parents.

 

[Kip Dynamite]

End of Life Massage- hospice

I'm looking into volunteering at nursing homes and with hospice care services. One of my classes made something of a field trip out of visiting a nursing home and working with hospice residents, and I found it very rewarding.

 

[Karen H]

End of Life Massage- hospice

Found this link today. I hope it may be useful for someone:

Compassionate Touch® combines one-on-one focused touch and sensitive massage with specialized communication skills to help enhance quality of life for those in later life seforum.xxxes.

Training = http://asoft743.securesites.net/secure/freedomweb/index.php?submenu=Training&src=gendocs&ref=TrainingOverview&category=Training