Research

Cover of Complimentary Therapies in Medicine journal
Palmer-funded Dosing Study with MHRI & MedStar Washington Hospital Center

MedStar Health Research Institute and MedStar Washington Hospital Center, in partnership with Healwell, were the recipients of a Palmer Foundation grant in early 2018, to study and compare effective dosages of massage therapy on pain and distress relief for 400 hospitalized palliative care patients. The study combines quantitative and qualitative data to show not only the clinical value of meaningfully integrated massage therapy, but also patient and clinician attitudes about the inclusion of massage therapy in mainstream care.

Cover of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

Kelemen, Anne et al. “"I Didn't Know Massages Could Do That:" A qualitative analysis of the perception of hospitalized patients receiving massage therapy from specially trained massage therapists.” Complementary therapies in medicine vol. 52 (2020): 102509. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2020.102509

Groninger, Hunter et al. “Massage Therapy for Hospitalized Patients Receiving Palliative Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” Journal of pain and symptom management, S0885-3924(23)00046-5. 31 Jan. 2023, doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.01.011



Struggle with reading the paper? Corey Rivera created this terrific infographic for "Massage Therapy for Hospitalized Patients Receiving Palliative Care: a randomized clinical trial" (published in The Journal of Pain and Symptom Management on January 30th, 2023).




Latham-funded Pilot Study with MHRI & MedStar Washington Hospital Center

MedStar Health Research Institute and MedStar Washington Hospital Center, in partnership with Healwell, received a grant from The Latham Foundation in 2017 to conduct a pilot study to assess feasibility of including massage therapy in the care offered to hospitalized palliative care patients as well as massage therapy’s effect on opioid use, pain and anxiety. 86 patients participated in the study, randomized between a quiet time control group and the massage therapy group.

You can see the poster here.



Children's National Medical Center

In June 2012, Healwell concluded an effort that spanned two years in a research partnership with an area hospital providing massage therapy to pediatric patients in an oncology massage feasibility study. Children’s National Medical Center engaged Healwell to provide massage therapy to pediatric oncology patients as part of their study, To Sleep, Perchance to Dream: a massage therapy trial in adolescents with cancer, to measure both the feasibility of offering massage to this population and the effect of massage therapy on sleep patterns in this population

Dr. Shana Jacobs, the lead investigator on the study is currently working to secure funding for a multi-site replication.



The Impact of Hospital-Based Massage Therapy Training on Practitioners’ Self-Efficacy

More information coming soon!



Are you interested in working with Healwell to develop research in your field?

 We would love to chat about potential opportunities.