 |
|
| Medical students Alexander Boardman, Jeff Larnard and Mark Fusunyan with nurse practitioner Beth Terhune. |
For those undergoing chemotherapy, the Hand Massage Program run by the Integrative Medicine Oncology Initiative may ease the experience.
Trained students and faculty are providing hand massages in the infusion suites of the Ambulatory Care Center at UMass Memorial Medical Center for interested patients undergoing infusion procedures. The massages are about 5 minutes per hand and several different techniques are used with patient feedback as a guide. Medical students, graduate students and faculty from the School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Nursing are serving as volunteers in the program.
Alexander Boardman, a third-year medical student, decided to launch the program last year, based on his interest in oncology and his experience as a volunteer at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Boardman began to bring his vision into action through his participation in the Integrative Medicine Oncology Initiative, a medical student-led group.
“Dr. Makowski, the physician mentor of the group and palliative care specialist, soon after gave me the resources necessary to do so and has been very supportive,” said Boardman. “My first goal was to make it self-sustaining. This requires ensuring that we maintain solid staff support and physician mentorship.” As such, medical team approval is required before patients can receive the massage.
Suzana Makowski, MD, is assistant professor of medicine and a hospice and palliative care specialist at UMass Memorial Medical Center.
 |
|
|
Alexander Boardman demonstrates hand massage techniques. |
As a volunteer at Dana Farber, Boardman provided hand massages to patients undergoing chemotherapy through a program called Hands on Care, which was the inspiration and model for the Hand Massage Program at UMMS. The Hands on Care Program has been thriving at Dana Farber since 2007.
“Relaxation, comfort and support are some of the key benefits for patients,” said Bambi P. Mathay, an oncology massage therapist and Reiki master practitioner at Dana Farber. “More and more people are using massage for medical issues, to support and improve health and are valuing it for its role in well-being. It is increasingly being recognized as part of comprehensive and continuum of care, not as a treatment, because massage cannot cure cancer.”
Beth Terhune, MS (GSN ’15), a nurse practitioner, oncology massage therapist and lymphedema therapist, helped start the program at UMMS by developing the curriculum, training medical students and gaining nurse support. Terhune is also the organizer of a mentoring program, The Abbott Road Project, bringing oncology massage therapists together by providing free sessions for individuals with cancer and fostering community in the process.
The curriculum and training for the hand massage program is based on the Dana Farber Hands on Care Program and the Touch, Caring and Cancer Project, which is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. According to Terhune, it is comfort-oriented, rather than a therapeutically oriented series of techniques with safety precautions and the full consent of the patient's medical team.
“There are depth, pressure, positioning, timing and movement considerations that are individual by patient. Students are trained to work with nursing staff to understand what those are and how they should be taken into consideration for each patient so as not to compromise the patient's care or wellbeing,” said Terhune.
Studies have shown that decreased nausea, anxiety, fatigue and depression are among the benefits of utilizing of specific acupressure points and a series of massages over time.
“I want as many patients as possible to enjoy our services so that they are excited for us to return,” said Boardman.
Although the program is still evolving, training sessions will be offered once a semester, with one upcoming this fall. The goal is to eventually branch out to other departments and expand training to UMass Memorial volunteers.
Dinah Gorelik is a third-year medical student at UMMS.
