Research on development of hand massage care for people with mental illness

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K15809
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Fundamental nursing
• Research Institution: Meio University
• Principal Investigator: Suzuki Keiko 名桜大学, 健康科学部, 教授 (60224573)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 平上 久美子 名桜大学, 公私立大学の部局等, 研究員 (00550352) ; 鬼頭 和子 名桜大学, 健康科学部, 准教授 (90714759)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: ハンドマッサージ / 精神疾患患者 / 代替補完療法 / 精神科看護 / 看護師

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aims to develop techniques for hand massage (HM) care for people with mental illness. The researchers created an HM protocol of 10 minutes of soft massage, five minutes per hand. This was tested on healthy adults and the results were evaluated.
Next, HM was implemented for patients on acute psychiatric wards who suffered from schizophrenia, dementia, bipolar disorder and other disorders, and the results were evaluated. Based on the above results, we interviewed specialist nurses, and experienced nurses and designated mental health physicians, regarding HM care for the mentally ill and issues to take into account when implementing HM care. All interviewees gave positive evaluations of the efficacy and feasibility of HM as a nursing care technique for psychiatric patients, and issues to be taken into account were clarified.

Free Research Field

精神看護学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

精神疾患患者の身体に直接ふれるケアは侵入的で患者の安全を脅かす可能性があるとされ、学術的にもふれるケア技術がほとんど顧みられることがなかった。本研究では精神疾患を持つ患者の多くがHMを好み、心地よさを提供できることが示唆され、今後の精神科領域におけるふれるケア技術の有効性への示唆を得るができた。合わせて、従来、精神科領域において積極的には推奨されてこなかったふれるケアの最も簡便な方法としてHMを推奨できることを示すことができた。HMのケア技術は看護職のみならず、患者自身が家族や友人を対象に実施でき、当事者主体の回復や対人交流の促進にも有効と思われる。