PHYSICAL  CONTACT WITH THE PATIENT

Physical contact, if welcomed, helps to establish a close relationship between the caregiver and the dying patient.  That contact is of vital importance to us for our well-being, --  from the moment we are born until the moment we leave this life. We not only need each other emotionally, we need to feel the human touch.  If there is nothing else that we can do for the patient, we can hold hands or stroke a brow.  If the circumstances permit, a massage helps to relieve pain and aids in relaxation.  One of the volunteers on our hospice team was an expert with foot massage.  She performed this with most of her palliative/hospice patients.  They loved her for it and eagerly awaited her arrival as she entered their hospital rooms.  A dear sister of mine, whose disease made her body become rigid over two or more years, really benefited from foot massage.  The last six months of her life, I would sit and massage her feet.  She felt that it helped to ease the discomfort and pain.

Therapeutic touch is also becoming a widely recognized means of providing relief for the patient.  There are different modes of practicing therapeutic touch, the difference being whether or not the motion of the healer’s hands includes movement in direct contact with the patient. Therapeutic touch can be a loving way to ease discomfort and pain. Its effectiveness flows from the intention and energy of the healer and the acceptance of that energy by the patient.                                                                                                                          

Fundamental changes are emerging in our theories of the universe, and the new physics tells us that matter, at its most basic, is really “moving or flowing energy.”  When practicing therapeutic touch, the healer merely accesses some of this energy.  In this process, the healer dismisses extraneous thoughts and becomes calm and focused.  Through the use of this energy, the healer can, by the movement of hands, sense the source of pain or negative energy, and move it from the patient’s body.  Both June and I received this training and we are convinced of its value.  Many medical institutions and care facilities are familiar with this practice, and positive results from its use have been documented.      

June had an opportunity to demonstrate the value of therapeutic touch when she was with a patient who was near death.  Also June was known as the lady who sang.  As she sang to this patient, the latter drifted off into a coma.  June had been with her for several hours.  As her pulse slowly weakened and breathing became irregular, June quietly told her that she was going to use therapeutic touch.  The healer can sense a flow of energy to and from the patient.  As June felt this flow, the patient took her final breath and her spirit took flight.        

The skeptic might question or request proof, but the healer senses the reality of the energy.  Much of what we know from our experiences in life is not provable by any known scientific formula.  We miss too much when we require absolute proof of everything in life.  The reality is in the experience.  We each have used this method with each other for pain relief.

Every human body needs to be validated by the caring touch of another human being.  We are all cradled in our mothers’ wombs, pass through the birth canal and are welcomed by loving hands.  All through our lives we extend our hands to greet and be embraced by others.  At the end of life also, the warmth of human touch can provide comfort and assurance for the journey each one must finally take alone.                                                                       

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