MA Phase 2 Part 2 recommendations by Lavender Farm Wellness
To Whom It May Concern:
Thank you for all the tireless effort the board has put into reopening Massachusetts safely. I have a recommendation to further improve the Phase 2 Close Contact Personal Services requirements for massage therapists and bodyworkers.
As a massage therapist and business owner the health of both my team and my clients is paramount. However, I believe a couple of the requirements don’t add to the safety of the massage therapy experience for either the client or the massage therapist.
I urge you to reconsider the requirement for massage therapist and bodyworkers to wear gloves, eye protection, and change their clothes between appointments as part of phase 2 close contact personal services.
The following recommendations are derived from the Massage and Bodywork Guidelines for practice with COVID-19, complied by Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (2020) and adopted by the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association.
· Massage practitioners provide massage with the forearms and elbows. Gloved massage requirement would not offer additional protection to client or therapist and would add undue cost and PPE usage. Washing hands, forearms, elbows with soap and water for additional 20 seconds of friction would meet and exceed this requirement. Using gloves when anytime the potential exists to come into contact with blood or body fluids and when handling potentially contaminated laundry. Heavy duty nitrile cleaning gloves can also be worn, sanitized and reused, reducing environmental waste.
· The clients already disrobe in private before getting onto the table so their clothes never come in contact with the clothes of the therapists. Therefore, there is no need to change the clothes of the therapist between every session. This is unfeasible requirement for individual practices and small business settings that only see a limited number of clients a day. Furthermore, the requirement to exchange clothing or apply protective garments is only required in the hospital care settings with confirmed symptomatic COVID cases. This would impose undue cost and hardship for small business without added benefit to offer additional protection.
· With both the clients and the therapists wearing masks wearing eye protection would become a redundant precaution and not further add to the safety of the therapeutic experience. In the massage therapy setting 75% of the session the therapist is more than 6 feet away from the client’s face. At least 50% of the therapy session is provided with client in prone position, facing down, and 25% of session time is spent on the lower extremities with the client facing up.
Therefore, I recommend lifting the requirement for massage therapist and bodyworkers to wear gloves, eye protection, and change their clothes between appointments as part of phase 2 close contact personal services.
In general, this level of PPE prevention is not required of other more advanced doctorate and masters level trained health professionals who work in close contact such as Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists therefore I think that it is unfair to hold massage therapists and bodyworkers to higher standards of care than their superiors. Furthermore, these requirements exceed Massage Therapy reopening guidelines and recommendations by other states and professional organizations.
I share your commitment in doing what’s best for the safety of our clients and our massage therapists. Therapeutic touch offers human connection and can help remedy the real loneliness and isolation people are experiencing during this unique time. I really appreciate all the effort that everyone is putting into safely reaping the massage therapy and bodywork sector. Please let me know if there is anything that I can answer or clarify.
Thank you for all that you do.
Best,
Brandon Jellison
Ugne Aleknaite
https://www.mass.gov/forms/submit-questions-and-comments-about-reopening-massachusetts