Massage for Cancer Center Staff 2019 Community Service Grant

Posted:Tuesday, July 14, 2020

The Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF) is pleased to have awarded University of Maryland Baltimore Foundation Inc., of Baltimore, MD, with a 2019 MTF Community Service Grant for their Seated Massages to Decrease Burnout and Compassion Fatigue in Cancer Center Staff project. The Baltimore Foundation is one of five 2019 MTF Community Service Grant recipients which were originally announced in September of 2019 and which are currently ongoing.

The total amount awarded is $4,780. This grant will provide up to 288 seated massage sessions to nurses and other staff members at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center during working hours to relieve muscular tension in the back, neck, and shoulders and to decrease anxiety and other stress-related symptoms. Stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue profoundly affect nursing staff in oncology units and negatively impact work performance.

A pilot study conducted in 2010 found that offering 10-minute seated massages to nurses during working shifts significantly reduced stress-related symptoms and anxiety. Participants will fill out pre- and post-massage surveys that ask about stress and pain levels. Data from the surveys will be entered bi-weekly into a database and a complete in-depth data analysis and comparison and final report will be submitted at the conclusion of the project.

While the ongoing COVID-19 crisis has delayed the schedule of many of MTF’s grantees, massage therapy will resume when it is determined safe to do so by state and local regulations as well as the grantee organizations themselves. We are happy to offer flexibility to our grantees in this challenging time.

Check out the short video below to learn more about this project: