Kennedy Ann Blair, Cambron Jerrilyn A, Dexheimer Jennifer M, Trilk Jennifer L, Saunders Ruth P
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Behavioral, Social, and Population Health, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, USA.
College of Allied Health Sciences and Distance Education and Department of Research, National University of Health Sciences, Lombard, IL, USA.
Prev Med Rep. 2018 May 11;11:49-55. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2018.05.001. eCollection 2018 Sep.
The human resources needed to provide health promotion services to improve health behaviors in populations are currently limited. Health promotion and education is included in the definition of massage therapy, and many within the massage therapy profession understand that health promotion and education are a part of massage therapy practice. However, the amounts and types of health promotion activities in massage therapy practice have not been thoroughly explored. The objective of this study was to investigate the current attitudes, practices, and barriers toward providing health promotion in a national sample of practicing massage therapists. A descriptive cross-sectional survey disseminated May to August 2016 to practicing massage therapists in the United States. The majority (90.2%) of the 182 participants agree or strongly agree that it is important for massage therapists to provide health promotion. Therapists with less favorable attitudes about providing health promotion reported more barriers to providing the messages to their patients. Barriers to providing health promotion included a lack of guidelines, knowledge, and skills. Training and guidelines for massage therapists regarding health promotion would be a reasonable next step for future research development. Utilizing massage therapists as health promoters may provide opportunities to deliver more prevention messages to patients which may impact public health.
目前，为改善人群健康行为而提供健康促进服务所需的人力资源有限。健康促进和教育包含在按摩疗法的定义中，按摩疗法行业的许多人都明白健康促进和教育是按摩疗法实践的一部分。然而，按摩疗法实践中健康促进活动的数量和类型尚未得到充分探索。本研究的目的是调查全国范围内执业按摩治疗师样本中目前对提供健康促进的态度、实践和障碍。2016年5月至8月向美国执业按摩治疗师进行了一项描述性横断面调查。182名参与者中的大多数（90.2%）同意或强烈同意按摩治疗师提供健康促进很重要。对提供健康促进态度不太积极的治疗师报告称，在向患者传达信息方面存在更多障碍。提供健康促进的障碍包括缺乏指导方针、知识和技能。为按摩治疗师提供有关健康促进的培训和指导方针将是未来研究发展的合理下一步。利用按摩治疗师作为健康促进者可能会为向患者传递更多预防信息提供机会，这可能会影响公众健康。
