Chapter 6: Treatment Planning for Clinical Massage 1 CEU
By: John Vinacci Learning objectives
After completing this course, the learner will be able to: Identify client goals in order to begin treatment planning. Demonstrate the ability to understand the importance of documentation and how to use it. Develop the ability to use an intake form and conduct an interview. Describe the two most common documenting formats. Explain how to assess a client’s pain. Course overview The goal of any massage is to have an agreeable outcome for the client. This may include the client’s request to become relaxed, for the therapist to spend extra time releasing hypertensive muscles, or to reduce the client’s pain in certain parts of their body. The client may also ask to be stretched or be left energized by the end of the massage. Irrespective of the client’s goals, it should be the mission of a therapist to satisfy a client’s objective. To ensure a massage has the outcome a client desires, a therapist needs to assess a client’s subjective and objective information, and make choices about how time in the massage will be spent in order to meet the client’s concerns. Developing a plan of treatment, or a Treatment Plan is based upon many factors. These factors include but are not limited to: ● A health history questionnaire, commonly known as an intake form . The form provides information about a client’s medical history. It may also include a diagram of the body for the client to indicate where they experience discomfort, pain, or other pathology. ● The client’s stated desires during a review of their intake form, is commonly referred to as the interview. ● The amount of time the massage appointment has been scheduled for. ● The financial situation of the client. Third parties such as insurance companies who are paying the cost of a massage may also dictate how a massage is conducted. ● The level of training and experience of the therapist. Implicit bias in healthcare Implicit bias significantly affects how healthcare professionals perceive and make treatment decisions, ultimately resulting in disparities in health outcomes. These biases, often unconscious and unintentional, can shape behavior and produce differences in medical care along various lines, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, and socioeconomic status. Healthcare disparities stemming from implicit bias can manifest in several ways. For example, a healthcare provider might unconsciously give less attention to a patient or make assumptions about their medical needs based on race, gender, or age. The unconscious assumptions can lead to delayed or inadequate care, misdiagnoses, or inappropriate treatments, all of which can adversely impact health outcomes. Addressing
Describe the importance of a client’s medications and their influence on treatment planning. Understand a massage therapist’s scope-of-practice. Develop the ability to use several assessments and the process of treatment planning based on their outcomes. Describe the most common massage techniques employed in a clinical massage. Describe how to proceed at the conclusion of the massage. ● The ability of the therapist within the scope of their practice as dictated by the state board. This focus of this course is on the process of developing a treatment plan by gathering a client’s information on paper, through dialogue, and the examination to make a basic assessment from which to develop a plan for the client. All of this information is to be well documented which indicates to the client that the therapist is both dedicated and professional with respect to their care. When therapists document, they provide a written record of all the information a client gives them on the client intake form, verbal information from the interview and post massage results. Information to be documented should also be gathered during the massage through the palpation of a client’s muscles and other soft tissue. This is done so that post massage results can be compared to the client’s pre-massage condition. The results of several massages can be compared to see if progress is being made towards a client’s goals, or if the therapist’s treatment plan needs to be amended. Documentation also helps screen for and keeps track of contraindications. By the end of this course, you will be able to develop a treatment plan by learning to synthesize written information provided by a client and by communicating with a client effectively. Just as importantly, you will learn how to document a client’s condition after a massage as a method by which to plan future treatments. implicit bias in healthcare is crucial for achieving equity in medical treatment. Strategies to combat these biases involve education and awareness programs for healthcare professionals. These programs help individuals recognize and acknowledge their biases, fostering a more empathetic and unbiased approach to patient care. Additionally, implementing policies and procedures prioritizing equitable treatment for all patients can play a pivotal role in reducing healthcare disparities. Ultimately, confronting implicit bias in healthcare is essential to creating a more just and equitable healthcare system where everyone receives fair and equal treatment regardless of their background or characteristics.
DOCUMENTATION
As it pertains to massage therapy, documentation is information about a client in the written form, whether it is handwritten or in electronic form. Collecting information allows the therapist to assess a client’s condition, consider or rule out what techniques may be used, and referrals to plan future treatments. Documentation is also a means by which a therapist can consult other massage therapists and various practitioners such as
physicians, for guidance pertaining to certain pathologies. Third, documentation is a necessary part of insurance claims. Moreover, a therapist’s documents of a client are legal documents. This means they can be used in a court of law. As it pertains to legal matters, proper and accurate documentation decreases the likelihood that a therapist can be successfully sued for client neglect or abuse.
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Book Code: MLA1224
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