Continuing Education at Downeast School of Massage, Waldoboro, Maine

Oncology Massage Therapy: Caring for Clients with Cancer

September 13-16, 2012
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 9AM-6PM

Cost: $575 if paid by August 16, 2012; $650 thereafter
$150 deposit required and non-refundable

In this intensive course, we combine the art and science of touch to create safe, effective massage sessions for clients with cancer and cancer histories. In a lively, supportive learning environment, participants learn simple, concrete massage adjustments for cancer and cancer treatment: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, bone metastasis, vital organ involvement, and lymphedema risk. We summarize the best research in oncology massage, learn unique positioning and bolstering for pain relief, and shine new light on the myth that massage could spread cancer. A balanced approach to learning includes interviewing and hands-on work with volunteer clients with cancer.

Learning Objectives

1. List physical and psychological benefits of massage therapy for people with cancer, and identify which are supported by research.
2. Recognize the basic steps of cancer metastasis, and help to dispel concerns that massage and increased circulation could spread cancer.
3. Communicate clearly with consumers and other health care professionals about common massage therapy adjustments for cancer, using a Decision Tree and describing massage elements such as pressure, joint movement, site, and position in plain language.
4. Adapt massage therapy to typical cancer presentations, including accessible primary tumor sites, bone involvement, and vital organ involvement.
5. Adapt massage therapy to common cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy.

Topics

• Benefits of Massage for People with Cancer
• Research on Massage and Cancer (Making Responsible Claims)
• Cancer, Metastasis, and Massage
• Using a Decision Tree to Describe Massage Contraindications
• The Massage Therapy Pressure Scale
• Communicating with a Client’s Physician
• Massage Adjustments for Active Cancer
• Adapting to Client Presentations: from Frail to Robust
• Positioning and Bolstering for Comfort and Symptom Relief
• Chemotherapy and Massage
• Radiation Therapy and Massage
• Massage, Surgery, and Thrombosis
• Lymphedema and Lymphedema Risk
• The Non-Circulatory Massage Protocol
• The Low-Impact Massage Protocol
• Massage Protocol for Thrombosis Risk
• Massage Protocol for Lymphedema Risk
• Tips for Working with other Cancer Treatments (Hormone Therapy, Targeted Therapy, Stem Cell/Bone Marrow Transplant)
• Common Clinical Presentations
• Hands-On Clinic with Client Volunteers (with Cancer and Cancer Histories)
• Roundtable Discussion of Clinic Cases

Tracy Walton, LMT, MS, is a researcher, writer, award-winning educator, and specialist in massage and cancer care. She is a dynamic voice for the power of touch, and is the author of a textbook, Medical Conditions and Massage Therapy: a Decision Tree Approach (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins). Tracy’s column on oncology massage appears regularly in Massage Today.

As a researcher, Tracy has worked on NIH (National Cancer Institute)-funded clinical trials involving professional massage and massage by caregivers. Research partners include the Osher Institute at Harvard Medical School, Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, and Collinge and Associates. She maintains a bibliography of oncology massage research on her website, www.tracywalton.com.

Tracy appears in the film, “Touch, Caring, and Cancer,” massage instruction for caregivers and partners. She designed curriculum for this inspiring, innovative program, and worked on a large, NIH-funded clinical trial testing the safety and feasibility of its use in home instruction. She is a frequent contributor to massage therapy publications.

Best known for her leadership and teaching in oncology massage therapy, Tracy also taught physiology and pathology at the Muscular Therapy Institute (now Cortiva Institute-Boston) for 13 years. There, she chaired the science department and served as Academic Dean. As an educator, she integrates the art, heart, and science of massage therapy. In her presentations, Tracy warmly welcomes and reaches health care consumers, researchers, health care providers, and massage therapists from all levels of training. In 2003, the AMTA named her the Teacher of the Year.

Tracy holds a master’s degree in biological sciences, with a concentration in biochemistry and cellular physiology. She received her diploma in therapeutic massage from the Muscular Therapy Institute.

Read articles by Tracy Walton

To register or for more information, call Downeast School of Massage at 207-832-5531 Register On-Line