Paper
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Effect of Healing Touch on Stress Perception and Biological Correlates of Stress in University Students
Janice a. Maville, EdD, RN, MSN, Nursing Department, The University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX, USA and Judith E. Bowen, Occupational Therapy, The University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: Evaluate the effectiveness of Healing Touch on psychological and physiological indicators of stress. |
| Learning Objective #2: Examine the transdisciplinary use of evidence-based research in the application of energy field therapy for health care practitioners. |
The presenters will report the implementation of and results obtained from a pilot study conducted by an interdisciplinary research team to investigate the effect of Healing Touch on state/trait anxiety and physiological measures of heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, skin conductance, and skin temperature in healthy adults. The pilot study used a single group, repeated measures design with a non-probability convenience sample of thirty subjects. Physiological data were collected for 10 minutes prior to intervention, during 30 minutes of Healing Touch treatment, and for 10 minutes post intervention. During the course of the treatment, significant changes were observed for all psychological and physiological measures, with the exception of muscle tension which remained constant. Results suggest that Healing Touch treatment is associated with both physiological and psychological relaxation. The importance of this study as an addition to the body of evidence-based research in complementary/alternative health practice will be emphasized. Results of this study will be related to the transdisciplinary implications for Healing Touch therapy in health care practice. This pilot study created the basis for a follow-up study currently in progress that has been expanded to include control and experimental groups to explore the efficacy of Healing Touch as an intervention for stress and the effect on immune response in healthy adults.