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ID: 05533
Title:Discover the Healing Power of Therapeutic Touch: Complementary Modalities, Part 1.
Publication Year: 1995.
Format(s): Journal Article
Language(s): English
Audience(s): Physical Therapists , Nurses , Nurses Aides/LPN , Professional Caregivers
Author(s): Mackey, R.B.
Source: American Journal of Nursing. 95(4): 27-33. April 1995.

Abstract: This article addresses common misconceptions about therapeutic touch, explains what it is, describes how it is practiced, and outlines some of the research that supports its use as an adjunctive nursing practice. The author suggests that patients receiving therapeutic touch require less pain medication, describe greater pain reduction, and report longer periods of pain relief. Several scientific studies have substantiated the analgesic properties of therapeutic touch and its ability to accelerate the healing process. While critics attack therapeutic touch as a form of faith healing, proponents claim it is a potent nursing adjunct. As for its place in nursing practice, the paper claims that therapeutic touch can increase nurses' insight and sensitivity, helping them care for each patient as a whole, and enabling them to treat the mind and spirit as well as the body.

Major Descriptor(s): Alternative-Medicine , Caregiving , Dementia , Mental- Health , Patient-Outcomes , Therapy , Touch
Minor Descriptor(s): Controversial-Use , Nursing-Care

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