Clinical Massage in the Healthcare Community

A growing number of medical practices now recognize the healing benefits of clinical massage therapy.  What was once dismissed as a second-tier, "alternative" treatment is now regarded as a vital part of treatment programs at many hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and athletic training facilities.¹

• 62% of the doctors and healthcare providers consulted strongly recommended or encouraged massage for their patients. ²
• 52% of patients view their massage therapist as a "healthcare professional." ³
• 82% of hospitals offering complementary and alternative medicine therapies include massage therapy among their healthcare offerings. ⁴
• Among complementary and alternative medicine practices surveyed, medical practitioners ranked massage therapy highest (74%) in terms of being perceived as always or usually effective. ⁵
• Alternative and complementary treatment methods like massage therapy have become so widely embraced by medical professionals that the National Institutes of Health has opened the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. ⁶
• The White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy announced the need for more public education on complementary and alternative medical therapies, including massage therapy. ⁷

 

^1. Interview with Michael Jones, Clinical Massage Therapist, Gottlieb Health and Fitness Center, June 17, 2005.

^2. American Massage Therapy Association, 2004 Massage Therapy Consumer Survey Fact Sheet, available at www.amtamassage.org/pdf/04survey.pdf.

^3. American Massage Therapy Association, 2003 Massage Therapy Consumer Survey Fact Sheet, available at www.amtamassage.org/pdf/03consurvey.pdf.

^4. Milivojevic, JoAnn, "Massage and Pain Relief", Massage Therapy Journal, Spring 2004, pp.46-53, available at www.amtamassage.org/journal/spring04_journal/
MassageAndPainRelief.pdf.

^5. American Massage Therapy Association, Demand for Massage Therapy - Use and Acceptance Increasing, 2002, available at www.amtamassage.org/pdf/02demanddraft2.pdf.

^6. Opening of National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, details at www.nccam.nih.gov/about/aboutnccam/.

^7. White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy, Final Report, March 2002, ISBN 0-16-051476-2. The Final Report can be purchased by visiting www.whccamp.hhs.gov/finalreport.html. Description: NIH Publication 03-5411.