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See also Healing Touch on Body Response Mechanisms

The Efficacy of Healing Touch in Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

The research and publication by Certified Healing Touch Practitioner, Barbara MacIntyre and the team at HealthEast St. Joseph Hospital in St Paul Minnesota details a randomized controlled study in the coronary intensive care unit. The study was published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine in July-August 2008.

There were 237 cardiac patients scheduled for coronary artery bypass surgery and were randomized to either of three groups: the intervention group who received Healing Touch or one of two control groups of either standard care or standard care plus visits. The Healing Touch group received preoperative education about Healing Touch and received a session the day before surgery, immediately prior to surgery, and the day after. The Healing Touch sessions were from 20-60 minutes for the first and third session and 60-90 minutes for session two. The techniques varied and included both hands on and hands above the body. One control group received a visit by a nurse who either had a general conversation or sat quietly in the room. The second control group had standard care without Healing Touch or a visit.

The study had six outcome measures including length of stay, incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation, use of antiemetic (anti-nausea) medication, amount of narcotic pain medication, functional status and anxiety. There was no significant difference in the incidence of atrial fibrillation, use of medication, or functional status. There were significant differences in a shortened length of stay for those in the Healing Touch group and a significant decrease in anxiety. The decrease in anxiety was found in all subjects in the Healing Touch group. This has important implications for care of cardiac patients as a decrease in length of stay in a hospital setting can provide cost benefits for the use of Healing Touch. For this hospital, it was estimated that the savings were about a half a million dollars per year. Healing Touch services were also expanded at the hospital and currently 90% of all cardiac patients take advantage of the program.

The decrease in anxiety found with the Healing Touch recipients with cardiac conditions was also found in another well designed study conducted at Duke University and is published in Nursing Research Journal by Seskevich et al in March/April 2004.

The Effect of Healing Touch on Body Response Mechanisms

A recent publication by Janice A. Maville, EdD, MSN, CNS, HTP, Judy E. Bowen, MPA, OTR, CHTP and Grant Benham, PhD studied the effect of Healing Touch on stress perception and biological correlates. This was published in the journal of Holistic Nursing Practice in the March/April 2008 issue. The objective of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of Healing Touch on anxiety and physiological measures (heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, skin conductance, and skin temperature) in 30 healthy adult volunteers. The participants completed a standardized questionnaire on stress before and after the session. The physiological data were collected prior to, during and after the Healing Touch session which included two techniques: hands in motion and the chakra connection. Changes were found for anxiety measures and the physiological measures, with the exception of muscle tension which did not change.

Results support the basic premise of physiological and psychological relaxation with Healing Touch. A majority of the participants also used the word “relax” to describe the session. Despite the pilot nature of this study the findings suggest that Healing Touch may contribute to positive changes in physiological stress mechanisms and subjective measures of anxiety. This study significantly contributes to the growing body of evidence that supports the use of Healing Touch for the reduction of anxiety and stress.

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