Langlade Memorial Hospital (LMH), a small rural health care facility located in Northern Wisconsin, is using an Massage Therapy Foundation grant to provide free massage therapy services to two very important groups- individuals with cancer and elderly persons who utilize the hospital’s Horizon Adult Day Care services. LMH’s Center For Health and Well-Being, a department that provides comprehensive holistic health care and community education services, administer the grant. The grant serves two populations who would otherwise be unable to access massage therapy services due to economic barriers.

Oncology patients who receive cancer care through LMH receive a gift certificate, which entitles them to a free one-hour full body massage courtesy of the Massage Therapy Foundation grant. Based upon financial need, the bearer may access up to two additional massages as desired. In addition to the massage therapy, the licensed massage therapist also provides patients and their family members with information and education about some of the techniques so that a care provider can replicate them at home.

Response has been increasingly positive. Because this is an extremely conservative community, during the first quarter of the grant period many of the intended grant population were hesitant to experience massage therapy. Center For Health and Well-Being staff spent a great deal of time promoting the benefits of massage for this population not only to cancer patients and the general public but also to potential referral sources such as medical and allied health staff at the hospital and clinics. This was provided in the form of Continuing Medical Education on the benefits of massage, possible contraindications and the process by which to refer patients in for services. Since that time, the response has been extremely positive with over 35 cancer patients accessing services to date.

The elderly who access services at LMH’s Horizon Adult Day care have also reaped great benefit from this grant. Three days each month a licensed massage therapist funded by the grant travels to the Adult Day Center and provides chair massage to every interested participant. To date, 15 frail and elderly Center clients have received massages courtesy of the grant. Most receive massage therapy every month.
The response to these projects has been extremely positive. Clients, family members and care providers are extremely grateful for the opportunity to receive massage therapy and requests for project expansion have come from many areas. If funded for another year, we intend to continue both of these highly successful programs and expand them to include residents of Pine Meadow and Rosalia Gardens, an assisted living facility for the elderly and a Community Based Residential facility for the frail and elderly respectively.

Our dreams include providing unlimited free (or sliding fee) massage therapy services to those most in need…those with chronic medical conditions and/or pain and who have financial barriers that prevent them from accessing this service. We would also like to provide unlimited free (or sliding fee) in home massage therapy services to elderly or disabled home bound community members. These are the people who would benefit the most from massage therapy. The physical touch and human contact/involvement alone that comes from massage therapy would dramatically increase quality of life not to mention the numerous other benefits that massage therapy can provides. For more information about the Project please contact Laura Waldvogel at the Center For Health and Well-Being at Langlade Memorial Hospital. Telephone (715) 623-9588, or email to lwaldvogel@langmemhosp.org