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Published on: September 16, 2015
Therapeutic touch and post-Hurricane Hugo stress
Therapeutic touch significantly reduced stress in individuals after a natural disaster. Further research is needed to explore nonverbal interactions and optimal treatment durations for stress reduction.
Area of Science:
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- Psychology
- Trauma Studies
Background:
- Natural disasters cause significant psychological stress.
- Therapeutic touch is a complementary therapy with potential stress-reducing benefits.
- Limited research exists on therapeutic touch effectiveness post-disaster.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic touch in reducing stress in disaster survivors.
- To investigate methodological aspects of therapeutic touch, including treatment duration and documentation of nonverbal interactions.
Main Methods:
- A repeated-session design was employed with 23 individuals.
- Participants received therapeutic touch following a natural disaster.
- Data collected included self-reported stress levels and qualitative observations of interactions.
Main Results:
- Therapeutic touch significantly reduced self-reported stress levels (p = .05).
- Intervention durations varied widely (6.8 to 20 minutes).
- Qualitative data highlighted areas for future investigation regarding touch interactions.
Conclusions:
- Therapeutic touch shows promise as an intervention for stress reduction in disaster survivors.
- Standardization of treatment duration and improved methods for documenting nonverbal communication are warranted.
- Further research is recommended to explore the nuances of therapeutic touch interactions.
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