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Announcement
CCMH is affiliated with Dalhousie University in a pilot Research Project
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CCMH Halifax is pleased to announce our affiliation with Dalhousie University’s Department of Health Sciences and the Nova Scotia Hospital in commencing a pilot study designed to measure the effects of massage therapy on an in-patient group undergoing treatment in a Withdrawal Management (Detox) program. This study draws together the collective expertise of a group of Dalhousie University and CCMH researchers, Addiction Prevention and Treatment Services, Halifax’s Capital Health research staff, and clinical specialists. Dr. Kathleen Jacques, Executive Director of the Halifax campus, has been nominated as Principal Researcher in the project, which has attracted significant funding from the Holistic Health Research Foundation of Canada and the Massage Therapy Research Fund.
The impact of alcohol and other drug abuse has become a prominent health issue in Canada and in Nova Scotia, where approximately 3,252 individuals in this Province sought treatment from Addiction Prevention and Treatment Services in the 2005 calendar year. The harms associated with alcohol and drug abuse pose a considerable threat to the social, emotional, physical and economic well-being of Canadian families and communities. Alcohol and drug abuse affect people from all walks of life, and one prevention and treatment approach cannot be sufficient for all possible forms of abuse.
The Withdrawal Management program run by Addictions Prevention and Treatment Services at the Nova Scotia Hospital is an in-patient program employing a biopsychological approach to treat and empower individuals experiencing the physical and emotional stresses associated with withdrawal. The participants of the Detox program generally reach their goals, although the process of recovery is a difficult one, often exacting a spiritual, emotional and physical toll.
,BR> The CCMH/Dalhousie/Capital Health study is designed to measure the effectiveness of Massage Therapy in mitigating these stresses.
Eighty patients (male and female, ages 18-65) will be recruited into the study. Participation will be voluntary and fully subject to hospital and CMTO ethical guidelines. Before enrollment in the study, participants will be screened for contraindications. If no contraindications are identified, volunteer participants will be informed that they will be randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups. Group One will receive a 20-minute chair massage, standardized and taught to all RMT volunteers, who will administer the protocol, by our Admissions Director, Dawn Donovan, B.B.A., RMT. This experimental group will receive massage on days 3 -5 of their five-day Detox program. Group Two, the control group, will be asked to engage in a self-selected relaxation technique in the same environment for 20 minutes.
Using a pre-test, post-test research design, participants will be monitored before and after the massage intervention (and control). Comparisons will be considered significant if P < 0.05.
This study will be the first such objective measure in a Canadian (or any) addiction recovery program. Our findings will contribute toward 1. Providing patients with excellent, progressive addictions treatment; 2. Promoting the development of skills necessary to design and implement research in massage therapy and 3. Encouraging the use of evidence-based research to educate health professionals and the public about the value of therapeutic massage. We at CCMH are very proud of our involvement in this collaborative project, which will provide a well-controlled evaluation of the efficacy of massage therapy in hospital-based withdrawal management. .
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