Antea Worldwide Palliative Care Conference

Rome, 12-14 November 2008

ABSTRACT FORM

Presenting author Therapeutic Touch in the Rehabilitation of the Palliative Care Patient
Brunjes Cathy Fanslow
Authors (max 6, presenting author included): Brunjes Cathy Fanslow
Email:
cfbtt@whidbey.com
When I think of rehabilitation in the palliative care patient, I think of Quality of Life as they will
Phone not be returned to the function they had prior to the disease.
Therapeutic Touch is an excellent healing modality to assist and maintain
Quality of Life and achieve wholeness no matter how the disease is progressing.
Mobile phone Therapeutic Touch, a contemporoary interpretation of several ancient healing practices, is a
consciously directed process of energy exchange during which the practitioner uses the hands as a
focus to facilitate healing. Healing comes from the ancient word “Haelen” which means “to make
or become whole”
Please underline the most Therapeutic Touch was developed in the early 1970’s by Do;ores Krieger, Ph.D, RN Professor of
appropriate category for your Nursing at new York University, and Dora Kunz, a noted healer and President of the
abstract Theosophical Society of America. It is Based on the belief that a human being is a complex
system of energies: disease/disorder may occur when there is congestion, depletion and /or
• Pain and other symptoms
imbalance of energy.
• Palliative care for cancer patients Therapeutic Touch begins with compassion and each treatment is given with the conscious intent
• Palliative care for non cancer to help a person re-pattern energy to facilitate healing. It has a strong research base, with over 35
patients years of research, which continues in major medical centers and universities. Therapeutic Touch
• Paediatric palliative care may be used alone or in conjunction with all traditional as well as contemporary healing and
helping modalities.
• Palliative care for the elderly
Practitioners move their hands about 2 to 4 inches away from the body while a person is seated or
• The actors of palliative care
lying down for a treatment. Therapeutic Touch is a process that is always individualized and
• Latest on drugs usually does not exceed 30 minutes. It is believed that a person’s own healing potential may be
• Pain enhanced by this elegant and graceful process.
Some of the indications for using Therapeutic Touch include but are not limited to: promoting
• Illness and suffering through relaxation, relief of pain, decreasing anxiety, accelerating wound healing and promoting a
media sense of well being All the above address the needs for comfort palliative care and are useful
and help to create and maintain quality of life ie. rehabilitation in the palliative care patient..
• Marginalisation and social stigma
at the end of life
• Palliative care advocacy projects

• Prognosis and diagnosis

communication in
different cultures
• Communication between doctor-
patient and patient-
equipe
• Religions and cultures versus
suffering, death and
bereavement
• Public institution in the world:
palliative care policies
and law
• Palliative care: from villages to metropolies

• Space, light and gardens for the terminally ill patient

• End-of-life ethics
• Complementary therapies Session: Rehabilitation in Palliative Care
• Education, training and research
• Fund-raising and no-profit Chair of the session: Claudio Pellegrini
• Bereavement support
• Volunteering in palliative care
• Rehabilitation in palliative care