Impact of a Massage Therapy Intervention for Pediatric Palliative Care Patients and Their Family Caregivers
Title
Impact of a Massage Therapy Intervention for Pediatric Palliative Care Patients and Their Family Caregivers
Creator
Weekly T; Riley B; Wichman C; Tibbits M; Weaver M
Identifier
Publisher
Journal of Palliative Care
Date
2019
Subject
pediatric palliative care; palliative care; massage therapy; pediatric; massage; integrative therapy
Description
Context: All inpatient children receiving pediatric palliative care consults at a free-standing children's hospital.Objectives: To explore the impact of massage therapy on pediatric palliative care patients' symptom burden and medication use pattern, to describe the impact of massage therapy on family caregiver distress, and to report on bedside nursing staff perception of massage therapy for children and their families.Methods: A 1-time point, single-center exploratory study offering 10-minute bedside massage to children receiving palliative care and 10-minute massage to their family caregivers.Results: A total of 135 massages were provided to children and their caregivers. Difference in child Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability scale (FLACC) score was detectable (P < .0001) with the median (interquartile range [IQR]) before FLACC score being 2 (1-3) and after FLACC score being 0 (0-1). Difference in "as-needed" pain medication usage in the 24 hours before and after the massage was detectable (P = .0477). Median difference in family caregiver distress with massage was -3.0 (IQR = 2.0, P < .0001). Bedside nurses (100%) reported massage to be a meaningful way to care for their families and patients.Conclusion: Massage therapy is a potentially meaningful intervention for pediatric palliative care patients with noted impact on symptom burden, benefit to family caregivers, and acceptance by nursing staff.
Rights
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Citation List Month
September 2019 List
URL Address
Collection
Citation
Weekly T; Riley B; Wichman C; Tibbits M; Weaver M, “Impact of a Massage Therapy Intervention for Pediatric Palliative Care Patients and Their Family Caregivers,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed April 27, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/16478.