Massage Therapy learners bring welcome respite to CHEO health care workers

Posted on Wednesday, February 8th, 2023

A student gives a back massage to a CHEO employeeHealth care workers at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) are delighted with a new work-integrated learning partnership with Algonquin College. Learners in the Massage Therapy program are participating in an outreach program where workers can sign-up for a 30-minute massage throughout the winter term. With the recent surge in children’s health care needs, hospital administration wanted to provide massage therapy opportunities for staff as part of their wellness package and as a way to say thank you.

To prepare for careers as massage therapists, learners complete 330 hours of direct client massage. While the program has worked with hospital patients in previous outreach programs, this is the first time they are providing massage therapy care specifically for health care workers.

“An administrator from CHEO reached out to [Dean] Jane Trakalo’s office asking if massage students would be able to come and give front line health care workers massages on their breaks,” said Sandra McCormick, the College’s Chair, Wellness Research and Innovation. “We often have requests from organizations to come and provide massage to their employees and it’s usually a one-time occurrence, but it worked out this time for the duration of the winter term.”

The outreach program at CHEO started on Jan. 26, which coincided with Bell Let’s Talk Day. Each massage takes place after an initial intake and assessment, where clients identify areas they would like the learners to target.
“Within massage therapy, back, neck and shoulders are pretty standard,” said Lauri Keogh, Professor, Massage Therapy. “Certainly for anybody sitting at a desk long hours and for nursing staff, they tend to carry a lot of tension up in their neck and shoulders. But we’ve also had legs and feet, hands, arms, shoulders, elbows, a good variety.”

Anyone who works at CHEO is welcome to book an appointment. The students are on-site every Wednesday until April 12. To date, a diversity of staff have come for a massage, including nurses, respiratory therapists, employees from the education unit and administrative staff.

“We wanted to offer a variety of timeslots to cover all the shifts and times for hospital staff and their availability,” said Keogh. “Of course, the nursing staff can’t always take their breaks at specific times. So, we needed to be a little bit flexible and provide different times to try and work with their schedules.”

Employees have praised the students for their skill and professionalism, with some workers saying how the mid-shift massage was rejuvenating and much-needed. Others commented that they felt as if they were floating on a cloud as they went back to work.

With such a positive response the program administration is looking forward to future outreach opportunities with CHEO and other Ottawa-area hospitals.

CHEO employees who are interested in scheduling a massage can book a timeslot on CHEOnet.

Image courtesy of @CHEO on twitter
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