NATIONAL HOME CARE & HOSPICE MONTH TO BEGIN NOVEMBER 1ST
LOCAL HOME CARE AIDE SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON MISSING LINK IN SERVICES FOR HOME CARE PATIENTS
Saco, ME, October 17, 2011 - Home care agency services often include patient access to nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, home health aides, CNAs, and PSS caregivers but many patients, who are often elderly, still voice concerns about their current treatments not helping them enough with chronic pain, poor circulation, high blood pressure, or limited range of motion. Unfortunately, there is one group of professionals that could help this population but that, unlike many hospices, no home care agency in the southern Maine area acknowledges: massage therapists. Access to professional massage therapists could help many home care patients by relieving some of their common complaints that other professionals do not have time for or are not licensed to provide, but many home care patients don’t realize it’s an option because it's not offered to them through their doctor or their home care agency for comfort or for rehabilitation.
Massage therapists interested in health care often have to overcome barriers when attempting to be recognized as part of a health care team. [A local home care aide] and a licensed massage therapist says, "Massage is still a misunderstood profession in some circles and massage therapists are still not often taken seriously in the health care field. There's not always a cure for what ails us but sometimes relief is the only cure people really need to get them through the day. Massage can do that; unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be given much consideration when a diagnosis or care plan is made despite the fact that it can be a very effective form of treatment.”
[She] has studied therapeutic massage at Spa Tech in Westbrook, is certified through the Institute for Integrative Healthcare Studies in New York in lymphatic drainage massage and massage for hospitalized and medically frail clients, and is certified in adult and child CPR/First Aid/AED through the American Heart Association. She has worked as an aide through a local home care agency for the past year and earned her PSS certification in March, 2011.
