Integrative Medicine: Healing Touch

Angela Hatfield, MSIV

What do you know about integrative medicine?Opinions?

Types

Herbal supplementation

Acupuncture

Chiropracty

Music Therapy

Ayurvedic Medicine

Functional Medicine

Yoga

Mind-Body Medicine

Nutrition

Energy Medicine

Massage Therapy

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Aromatherapy

Tai Chi

Guided imagery

Naturopathic/Homeopathic doctors

Energy Medicine: Healing Touch

Healing Touch is a relaxing, nurturing energy therapy that uses gentle touch to assist in balancing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.  Healing Touch works with your energy field to support your natural ability to heal, is safe for all ages and works in harmony with standard or allopathic medical care. 

Uses

Stress

Anxiety and depression disorders

Pain management

Immune function

Surgery recovery

Supportive cancer care/palliative care

Healing Touch is used in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, long-term care facilities, private practices, hospices, and spas.  Healing Touch was founded in 1989 as a continuing education program for nurses, massage therapists, other health care professionals, and lay persons.  Today, Healing Touch is taught in universities, medical and nursing schools, and other settings around the world.

What does it actually look like?

The first session involves a consultation in addition to the Healing Touch session.  The provider will ask a series of questions about your physical, mental, and emotional situation, and will answer questions about Healing Touch. Then you lay fully clothed on a massage table while the provider gently places his or her hands slightly above or on the body. The session generally lasts 40 to 60 minutes, and people frequently report feeling deeply relaxed and peaceful during and after the session. Because there may be a cumulative effect of using Healing Touch over time, regular sessions are recommended.

What does it do?

The Effect of Healing Touch on Body Response Mechanisms Janice A. Maville, EdD, MSN, CNS, HTP, Judy E. Bowen, MPA, OTR, CHTP and Grant Benham, PhD

A recent publication by studied the effect of Healing Touch on stress perception and biological correlates.  This was published in the journal of Holistic Nursing Practice in the March/April 2008 issue. The objective of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of Healing Touch on anxiety and physiological measures (heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, skin conductance, and skin temperature) in 30 healthy adult volunteers.  The participants completed a standardized questionnaire on stress before and after the session.  The physiological data were collected prior to, during and after the Healing Touch session which included two techniques: hands in motion and the chakra connection.  Changes were found for anxiety measures and the physiological measures, with the exception of muscle tension which did not change.         Results support the basic premise of physiological and psychological relaxation with Healing Touch.  A majority of the participants also used the word “relax” to describe the session.  Despite the pilot nature of this study the findings suggest that Healing Touch may contribute to positive changes in physiological stress mechanisms and subjective measures of anxiety.  This study significantly contributes to the growing body of evidence that supports the use of Healing Touch for the reduction of anxiety and stress.

How does it do it?

Surface Electromyography (EMG) Apparatus as a Measurement Device for Biofield Research: Results of a Single Case Study.  Mitzi A. Forbes, PhD, RN, CHTP, Ray Rust, PhD, CHPT, and Gerald J. Becker, CHTP

The objective of this study was to determine if surface electromyography (EMG) equipment was capable of detecting electrical signals that can be used in Healing Touch and other biofield therapies to measure outcomes. Resting state data was compared to data collected during a Healing Touch back sequence on one subject. The results indicated that an averaged baseline, "resting state" frequency spectrum was definable. When the HT practitioner attuned with the subject, higher frequency components of the spectrum increased in amplitude, peaked, then decreased throughout the intervention. The conclusion drawn is that the surface EMG apparatus has potential as a measurement device for biofield research. 

Specific Conditions

Diabetes

Effects of Healing Touch and Other Complementary Therapies on Diabetes.  Patricia Merritt, RN, HNC, HTP, NCRT

A combination of Healing Touch, massage, and reflexology was tested in diabetic patients. Blood sugar and biofeedback measures were obtained before and after the sessions. There was a 70% decrease in blood sugar (when using combined therapies) and 77% of the subjects receiving Healing Touch had warming of their hands which suggests improved circulation.

Pain Management

Pain Management Outcomes of Healing Touch Interventions.  Judi Fouladbakhsh RN, PhD, APRN, BC, AHN-C 

This descriptive study examined pain management outcomes of Healing Touch interventions for 839 Healing Touch treatments on more than 400 clients who came to the Healing Touch Center of Farmington Hills over a two-year period. Analysis revealed a significant decrease in reported pain, and significant increase in energy flow as measured by practitioner assessment. 

Reducing Pain and Anxiety through Healing Touch.  Barbara Welcher, RN, BS, CHTP, and John Kish, PhD, RN 

This study was designed to evaluate the outcomes of a Healing Touch intervention with 138 in-patients. The patients were both male and female with a variety of diagnoses and ranged in age from 18 to 94 years old. After the Healing Touch treatment, the practitioner gave a questionnaire to the patients requesting that the patients assess their level of pain and anxiety before the treatment and then assess their present level of pain and anxiety after the treatment using a scale of 1 to 10. Healing Touch significantly reduced both pain and anxiety in this study of hospitalized patients.

CABG Recovery The Effect of Healing Touch on Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Patients.  K. Arom, MD, and Barbara MacIntyre, RN 

This was an experimental randomized control trail of 237 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery. There were three groups, Healing Touch, visit, or control. It was found that Healing Touch participants had a shorter hospital stay.

The Efficacy of Healing Touch in Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

The research and publication by Certified Healing Touch Practitioner, Barbara MacIntyre and the team at HealthEast St. Joseph Hospital in St Paul Minnesota details a randomized controlled study in the coronary intensive care unit.  The study was published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine in July-August 2008.  

There were 237 cardiac patients scheduled for coronary artery bypass surgery and were randomized to either of three groups: the intervention group who received Healing Touch or one of two control groups of either standard care or standard care plus visits. The Healing Touch group received preoperative education about Healing Touch and received a session the day before surgery, immediately prior to surgery, and the day after. The Healing Touch sessions were from 20-60 minutes for the first and third session and 60-90 minutes for session two.  The techniques varied and included both hands on and hands above the body.  One control group received a visit by a nurse who either had a general conversation or sat quietly in the room. The second control group had standard care without Healing Touch or a visit.

The study had six outcome measures including length of stay, incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation, use of antiemetic (anti-nausea) medication, amount of narcotic pain medication, functional status and anxiety.  There was no significant difference in the incidence of atrial fibrillation, use of medication, or functional status.  There were significant differences in a shortened length of stay for those in the Healing Touch group and a significant decrease in anxiety.  The decrease in anxiety was found in all subjects in the Healing Touch group. This has important implications for care of cardiac patients as a decrease in length of stay in a hospital setting can provide cost benefits for the use of Healing Touch.  For this hospital, it was estimated that the savings were about a half a million dollars per year.  Healing Touch services were also expanded at the hospital and currently 90% of all cardiac patients take advantage of the program. 

The decrease in anxiety found with the Healing Touch recipients with cardiac conditions was also found in another well designed study conducted at Duke University and is published in Nursing Research Journal by Seskevich et al in March/April 2004.

Post-Anesthesia Recovery

The Effect of Relaxation (Healing Touch) Touch on the Recovery Level of Post-anesthesia Abdominal Hysterectomy Patients,  Maria Adela Concepcion Silva, PhD, RN, CHTI 

This study evaluated the effects of Healing Touch on the amount of narcotic analgesic self-administered postoperatively, the frequency of bowel program treatments and medications administered to patients with abdominal hysterectomies. Sixty preoperative patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Healing Touch, back massage, and no treatment. The results indicated that the Healing Touch subjects had a significantly higher level of recovery than the two controls on lung, gastro-intestinal, and activity status. Reduction of systolic and diastolic blood pressures and pulse rate were statistically significant for the Healing Touch group and the amount of narcotic analgesia and bowel treatments were less in this group as well.

Statistical PowerStudies are small, not as well funded, which means some do not reach statistical significance; but we know that the size of a study affects the power and the degree of difference required to see significance. Hence these are promising results, and they actively look to improve the studies.

Improvements to Methods

Development of an Instrument to Measure Holistic Client Comfort as an Outcome of Healing Touch, Therese Dowd, PhD, RN, Katharine Kolcaba, PhD, RNC, and Richard Steiner, PhD, MPH

The Energy Therapy Comfort Questionnaire (ETCQ) was adapted from the General Comfort Questionnaire (Kolcaba, 1992) to measure the immediate efficacy of Healing Touch (HT) on the outcome of holistic comfort. Findings of the 53 persons who returned the questionnaires were that those who had received five or more HT treatments had higher comfort levels than those with fewer treatments. The ETCQ provides a holistic measure of the effects of HT for research and practice venues.

The HEALTH Tool (Healing Energy and Life Through Holism),  Sylvia Philpy, MSN, NNP, CNS and Cynthia Hutchinson DNSc, RN, CHTI 

The goal of this project was to develop a tool that would be totally encompassing in reflecting the Healing Touch treatment process. This included who the practitioner is, who the patient is, what techniques are used and in what order, and what the environment is like. The HEALTH tool is designed to obtain a thorough, holistic history from a client; determine the meaning the client holds for each aspect of that history; document and assess the outcome of all energetic healing treatments done; and determine the concerns, plans, and goals for care on the part of the client, as well as the practitioner.

The Development and Initial Testing of an Instrument to Assess Advanced Practice Nursing Graduate Students' Attitudes Toward Healing,  Nancy Scheel, MS, MA, RN 

The purpose of this study was to develop and initially test an instrument to assess advanced practice nursing graduate students' knowledge and attitudes toward Healing Touch. The instrument, A Surgery Study of Advanced Practice Nursing Graduate Students' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Healing Touch was initially tested by 14 volunteer first year advanced practice nursing graduate students. There were no significant relationships so the investigator made recommendations for instrument revisions.

Non-Clinical Benefits

Healing Touch: A Cost Effectiveness Study.  Mary Beth Lodge, RN, BSN, CHTP

A cost effectiveness study was conducted to assess the overall impact of the inclusion of energy medicine (Healing Touch) and imagery on utilization of benefits and medical costs. It was a thirteen-month study with 440 employees in a self-insured manufacturing company. Healing Touch was included as a benefit available to any employee or dependent covered under the medical benefits plan. There were a total of 38 participants with chronic disease. Overall medical costs were higher during the study year than the previous year. The cost of the study represented on 3% of total medical benefit costs to the company. A co-pay comparable to other outpatient benefits of the medical plan would have reduced this. The company decided to include Healing Touch in its benefit plan with a co-pay after receiving demands for continuation of this service from study participants.

Healing Touch Program Survey at St. Joseph's Hospital.  Kimberly Garcia, RN, CHTP/I

A three-month survey was done at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Florida from June through August, 2004.  During a fifty-two day time period 140 Healing Touch treatments were given to 124 patients with a variety of problems.  The most frequent condition in which Healing Touch was used was for those receiving surgical repair for orthopedic problems, especially laminectomies. Headaches, peripheral neuropathy, and other conditions were also included.  There was a significant before and after effect in decreasing pain, anxiety, and nausea. Effects were also seen for those patients experiencing lumbar or cervical laminectomy most dramatically in the areas of anxiety and nausea.  There was also increased patient satisfaction identified on evaluations as "staff's sensitivity to needs."

Take Away Points

Your patients are going to ask you about integrative and alternative therapies. Educate yourself, and your patients, rather than dismiss them outright.

Reduces pain and improves recovery times.

Patients appreciate the one-on-one care, and value the real therapeutic nature of touch.

If nothing else, it improves bedside manner by teaching the ability to be present to the patient in the moment and expressing concern for more than patients’ physical bodies.

Resources

healingbeyondboarders.org