Touch Therapies Andrea Hammond, Sharon Hendon, Stacey Klein,
Angel Schneider
Slide 3
Purpose To explore alternative, nonpharmacological methods that
could provide better management of pain, fatigue, and anxiety in
our patients.
Slide 4
Research Question Is there a sufficient amount of valid
research on touch therapies (Therapeutic Touch, Healing Touch, and
Reiki) to consider utilization as an EBNP?
Slide 5
What are Touch Therapies? Touch therapy is based on the
assumption that all human beings are surrounded by a universal
energy field. When there is an imbalance in energy, illness can
result. This imbalance can be treated by trained practitioners.
Therapeutic Touch (TT) has been used since 1973 to reduce anxiety,
accelerate time of wound healing, decrease pain and anxiety, and
accelerate relaxation in those who are ill. As of 2000, 90
countries practice TT throughout the world (Coppa, p. 17).
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Theorist The nursing theory by Martha Rogers supports this
view. Rogers postulates that the human and environmental fields are
identified by wave patterns, and that change is propagated by
waves. Nursing interventions such as TT are directed towards
promoting the rhythmic flow of energy waves that order and re-order
the human field (Aghabati, p. 376).
Slide 7
Touch Therapy-The Beginning Reiki was conceived by Buddhist
monk Mikao Usui in 1914. Therapeutic Touch was co-founded by Dora
Kunz and Dolores Krieger in 1973. Healing touch was founded by
Janet Mentgen in the 1980s.
Slide 8
Primary Research Articles The Effect of Therapeutic Touch on
Pain and Fatigue of Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy
(Aghabati, Mohammadi, & Esmaiel, 2008) The researchers studied
90 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in an experimental
study. The patients were split into 3 groups of 30 each. A control
no treatment group, a placebo group, and a therapeutic touch group.
The results found that the patients who received TT experienced
less pain and fatigue than the other 2 groups of patients. The
Internal Process of Therapeutic Touch (Coppa, 2008) The researchers
used a descriptive qualitative design to study TT between the nurse
and the client. Each nurse had one adult and one infant client that
they treated. The researchers stood back and only observed the
treatments, there was no interaction between the researcher and the
clients. Detailed notes were taken during this observation.
Slide 9
Primary Research Articles The Effect of Therapeutic Touch on
Postoperative Patients (Coakley & Duffy, 2010) The researchers
studied 21 vascular surgery postoperative patients from post-op
days 1-7 to determine if TT is effective in reducing post-op pain
and stress after surgery. This study measured the level of pain and
blood levels of cortisol and natural killer cells (NKC) before and
after each TT treatment. This study found that the patients
receiving TT reported a lower level of pain and blood levels of
cortisol and NKC were also decreased. Effects of Healing Touch on
Stress Perception and Biological Correlates (Maville, Bowen, &
Benham, 2008) The researchers used a quantitative,
quasi-experimental design to study the effect of healing touch on
anxiety and physiological measures of blood pressure, heart rate,
muscle tension and skin temperature in health adults. After the
data was collected and reviewed, the researchers concluded that
healing touch promotes relaxation and stress reduction. The results
showed a decrease in the physiological parameters during and after
treatments.
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How the Evidence is Effected by Your Experience Point of View
The evidence in any literature review is affected by the nurses
personal experience, patient preferences, and nursing values. Some
of our group members have positive personal experience with touch
therapies, while others remain skeptical. Patient preferences need
to be taken into consideration. Some patients enjoy a relaxing back
rub, while others do not. Our nursing values provide a framework
for each of us to work in while caring for patients. We need to use
the policies and procedures put in place by our institutions, as
well as the scope of nursing as described by the American Nurses
Association.
Slide 11
Assumptions Our point of view is shaped by the assumptions we
have. Whether we have personal experience with a given modality or
not, we are still shaped by what we assume to be true regarding its
use in our practice. Two opposing assumptions are present in our
group. One member assumes that western medicine fails to help all
patients and there is definitely a place for eastern medicine along
with current practice to treat the whole patient. Another member
assumes that touch therapy would not be effective based on her
skepticism of eastern medicine.
Slide 12
Implications and Consequences There are significant
implications to allowing our point of view and assumptions to
direct our review of literature. If we are to move ahead with best
practice nursing we must set aside our biases and review the
literature objectively. The modality of TT is an intervention, not
a cure. TT is very low tech, low cost, and within the scope of
nursing practice (Coakley, p. 3).
Slide 13
Recommendations The four primary research articles that we
critiqued, recorded positive results for a wide variety of patients
when TT was used. The use of touch therapy as a nonpharmacological
method to reduce pain and anxiety is starting to receive its
deserved notice in the medical community. Research continues to
verify the findings that touch therapy is effective in reducing
pain, anxiety, and fatigue. Touch therapy is a low cost option that
should be considered for pain control. Research needs to continue
to collect additional support for the use of touch therapy as a
nonpharmacological method for reducing pain, anxiety, and
fatigue.
Slide 14
Conclusion As nurses, we are often frustrated by the failure of
traditional medicine to help patients with their pain, stress, and
fatigue. Each of the articles reviewed presented clinical support
of touch therapy as an effective alternative treatment for pain,
anxiety, and fatigue. Alternative medicine is open to a lot of
skepticism in our modern medical world. Within our group this bias
was evident. Our findings were inconclusive to recommend touch
therapies as an EBNP, but there is sufficient evidence to suggest
touch therapies be considered in holistic nursing practice.
Slide 15
References Aghabati, N., Mohammadi, E., & Esmaiel, Z. P.
(2010). The Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Pain and Fatigue of
Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy. Evidence-Based
Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 7(3), 375-381.
doi:10.1093/ecam/nen006 Coakley, A., & Duffy, M. (2010). The
effect of Therapeutic Touch on Post Operative Patient [Electronic
version]. Journal of Holistic Nursing, x(xx), 1-8.
doi:10.1177/0898010110368861 Coppa, D. (2008). Internal Process of
Therapeutic Touch. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 26(17).
doi:10.1177/0898010107306691 Fazzino, D., Griffin, M., Mc Nulty,
R., & Fitzpatrick, J. (2010). Energy Healing and Pain. Holistic
Nursing Practice, 24(2), 79-88. Retrieved June 20, 2010, from
CINAHL. Maville, J., Bowen, J., & Benham, G. (2008). Effects of
Healing Touch on Stress Perception and Biological Correlates.
Holistic Nursing Practice, 22(2), 103-110. Retrieved June 20, 2010,
from CINAHL. Monroe, C. (2009). Effects of Therapeutic Touch on
Pain. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 27(2).
doi:10.1177/08980101083227213 Peck, S. (2007). Aftermath of the
Unexpected Unexplained and Abrupt Termination of Healing Touch and
Extrapolation of Related Cost. Complementary Health Practice
Review, 12(2), 144-160. doi:10.1177/1533210107302934 Pierce, B.
(2009). A Nonpharmalogical Adjunct for Pain Management. The Nurse
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So, P., Jiang, Y., & Quon, Y. (2008). Thereaputic Touch for
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M., Garcia, M., Gordiano, J., Jensen, M.,... Tsao, J. (2007).
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