Study to Determine Therapeutic Massage Dosing to Improve Quality of Life in Hospitalized Patients Receiving Palliative Care

Therapeutic massage is the most common non-traditional treatment option offered to improve quality of life, provide comfort and decrease pain in hospice and palliative care settings outside the hospital. Three systematic reviews of data in general pain, surgical and cancer populations found massage to be effective for treating pain versus active comparators. Given the remarkable negative impact on QOL experienced by patients hospitalized with a serious progressive illness, a nationwide opioid crisis in the setting of public concern for untreated pain, and patient demand for integrative therapies, we wish to investigate non-traditional methods of supporting patients in pain and providing clinicians with viable alternatives. Unfortunately, very little is known about optimal delivery of massage interventions in the hospital setting, including dosing parameters such as time and frequency We conducted a single center comparative effectiveness study to evaluate therapeutic massage "dosing" to improve self-reported quality-of-life in hospitalized patients receiving palliative care consultation.