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Please find below our"feature article" taken from a TTNO newsletter. |
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Throughout my 17 years of experience using Therapeutic Touch™, I have found it most valuable in symptom management. After receiving TT, terminally ill patients often need less narcotic analgesia to maintain the same level of pain control. TT also seems to assist in settling the restlessness that besets patients who are close to death. I've seen Therapeutic Touch™ make a lot of difference in how people cope under very difficult circumstances. TT helps to calm anxiety and alleviate fear in both patient and family. It also reduces stress levels and potential burnout in the practitioner. TT facilitates a state of quiet connectedness between loved ones and caregivers alike, and can be a strong ally for everyone affected by the dying process. TT is a practical tool that is easy to learn and doesn't require much time to practice. Although a full session can take 10- to 20-minutes, shortened forms of TT can be effectively practiced and can be performed concurrently with other tasks. Practitioners can also teach these simple, modified forms of TT to family members. This gives loved ones a positive way to be present in the hospital room- something that forges or maintains a state of connectedness between them and the dying patient, possibly even when the patient is comatose. Toronto East General Hospital boasts the first Therapeutic Touch™ Outpatient Clinic in Canada and was started by the Palliative Care Coordinator to improve the quality of care for her patients. The clinic operates with a substantial waiting list, showing how much the community values this service. At Casey House, the AIDS Hospice in Toronto, the staff uses Therapeutic Touch™ on the patients daily to assist with symptom management. Casey House conducts onsite training sessions for staff, volunteers, significant others and family on a regular basis. Volunteers offer Therapeutic Touch™ treatments to cancer patients at the two Wellspring sites in Toronto. At some facilities patients receive Therapeutic Touch™ while chemotherapy is being administered, to reduce the side effects of nausea, vomiting and fatigue. Most of the palliative care volunteer groups or hospices around the province are either including Therapeutic Touch™ training for their volunteers or are encouraging the volunteers to learn. The growth of Therapeutic Touch™ in Ontario has been remarkable over the past fifteen years. Many of the palliative care programs that are offered through the Community College system provide credit hours for Therapeutic Touch™ training. The College of Nurses of Ontario has recognized Therapeutic Touch™ in the Implementation Standards of Practice for Nurses since 1990, and Therapeutic Touch™ has been acknowledged as a form of Self Reflective Practice. Each institution is responsible for the development of policies and procedures for the use of Therapeutic Touch™ in its setting, and many agencies province-wide either have these in place now or these policies and procedures are in the development process. Diane May RN, is a Recognized Practitioner/Teacher of Therapeutic Touch™ and the former President of The Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario, and . she has facilitated workshops internationally over the past 15 years. Diane is the author of the book "The Therapeutic Touch™ Handbook: Level 1-Basic". |
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