Conference Program Day 2

Vancouver Convention Centre
West Building, Level 3 Summit

Saturday September 10

7:30 a.m.
Hosted Continental Breakfast Buffet

Location: West Level 3 Foyer

8:30 a.m.
Opening Remarks & Announcements

Location: Main Meeting Room (Rooms 301-305)

8:45 a.m.
Dr. Janet Kahn: Team Players "Massage Therapy in the Era of Patient Empowerment and Integrative Healthcare"

Location: Main Meeting Room (Rooms 301-305)
Dr. Janet Kahn, keynote at the RMTBC 2020 Conference on Massage Therapy and Rehabilitation

Course(s) Taught: Affordable Care Act, Policy and Integrative Healthcare

Dr. Janet R. Kahn is currently a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Vermont’s College of Medicine, a position she has held since 2002. Since 2000, Dr. Kahn has been a Faculty Preceptor in the Fellowship Program in Complementary, Alternative, and General Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kahn helped found the Integrated Health Policy Consortium in 2002, where she was on the Steering Committee until 2005, thereafter serving as Executive Director until 2011. In addition, Dr. Kahn was the Director of Integrated Health Care of the Community Health Center of Burlington from 2008 to 2010, the Director of Research of the Massage Therapy Research Consortium from 2003 to 2008, and a Senior Research Scientist at the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women from 1997 to 2000. Dr. Kahn’s research focuses on equitable and affordable health care delivery models, the importance of massage therapy for the treatment of chronic pain, and supporting the well-being of veterans. Dr. Kahn has served on a number of boards, including the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health since 2009. On October 7, 2011, President Obama announced the appointment of Dr. Kahn to serve as a member of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. Dr. Kahn holds a BA from Antioch College, an EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a PhD from Brandeis University.

I will present research from studies on Mission Reconnect (the program I developed with my research partner to help Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan), and from the Comprehensive Pain Program at the University of Vermont Medical Center where I now oversee the Manual and Movement Therapies. Mission Reconnect is available as an app and website through which Veterans can learn a dozen mind-body techniques to help them reconnect with themselves, with quiet, and with their partners. It includes a videotape through which they learn specific partner massage techniques and there is data on the specific effects of their use of that, as well as of the whole program. In the Comprehensive Pain Program, I am part of a team of about 14 people who jointly treat people who have chronic pain, many of whom have been suffering for 10 years or more. It is an important program with a novel payment method, and massage therapy and craniosacral therapy are critical element of its success.

Learning Objectives

My talk will discuss these programs, as well as the importance of our role in patient empowerment and in helping people transform their relationships with their body and with pain, the challenges of evaluating a comprehensive/additive and personalized program through reductionist methods, the importance of learning who to measure the synergies of team treatment, etc.
In the world of treatment of Veterans people speak about the Polytrauma Triad – the fact that almost no one returns from war with just one kind of pain, and that understanding this is vital to our success. With Veterans the triad they name is physical pain, PTSD, and cognitive impairment due to mild traumatic brain injury.

Now that I am in the world of chronic pain treatment, I see many people who are dealing with physical pain (often of more than one type), mental health issues (sometimes arising from living with pain and sometimes being precursors), and in some cases addiction issues as well.
The truth is that mot of the clients who show up on any of our tables are likely dealing with more than one issue. Understanding how to be a part of a team helping that person, even if the team is not in one office, is an important aspect of 21st Century care.

10:15 a.m.
Refreshment Break

Location: West Level 3 Foyer

10:45 a.m.
Eryn Price: How Mindful Rehabilitation Can Improve Quality of Life, Range of Motion and Pain for Breast Cancer Patients"

Location: Main Meeting Room (Rooms 301-305)
Eryn graduated with honours from WCCMT in 2010, and one year later began teaching in the massage colleges, first at WCCMT and then at Langara. After a few years of practicing sports massage, she shifted her practice towards supporting women going through breast cancer and related breast surgeries. Understanding the lack of rehabilitation resources for people undergoing breast surgery, Eryn has developed both in person and virtual programs supporting patients and massage therapists alike to learn about mindful care in the breast surgery process. Having recently launched her fully accredited “Mastectomy Guide for Healthcare Professionals” training program, Eryn is on a mission to create a heart-centred network of highly trained professionals comfortable and inspired to work with the breast surgery demographic, so people all over the country can access the resources they need. To learn more please visit: www.mastectomyguide.com

Learning Objectives

At the end of this 90 minute talk, participants should have an understanding of:

  • The importance of a mindful therapist in patient recovery.
  • 3 types of breast cancer surgery, ranging from minimally invasive to very invasive, with evidence-based imagery of what actually happens during breast surgery from the surgeon’s perspective.
  • 13 massage therapy techniques research has shown to be useful for treating pain, limited mobility and scar tissue management following breast cancer surgery.
  • 3 post-surgical risk factors for therapists to enlighten patients about, so they know what to avoid through the return-to-function phase.
  • Understanding where to access surgeon-approved home-care support programs outlining step-by-step guidance for patient rehabilitation after breast cancer surgery, as adjunct support for massage therapy treatments.
12:15 p.m.
Hosted Luncheon and Poster Session

Location: West Level 3 Foyer

The poster sessions are a showcase of research about massage therapy projects. This event creates a forum for informal discussion of research and provides attendees with the opportunity to learn how individual therapists have impacted the community and advanced the profession.

The following posters have been submitted and approved by the Research Committee:

  • Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Value of Massage Therapy in a Pediatric Hospice presented by Deetria Egeli RMT.
  • A Mechanism of Action and a Common Pathophysiology Explaining Both the Assessment and Treatment of Many Conditions Seen by the Massage Therapists (Part 1) presented by Dr. David De Camillis D.C.
  • A Mechanism of Action and a Common Pathophysiology Explaining Both the Assessment and Treatment of Many Conditions Seen by the Massage Therapists (Part 2) presented by Dr. David De Camillis D.C.
  • Arthrotome: Joint capsuloligamentous tissues that are mainly supplied by afferent nerve fibres from the dorsal root(s) of any given spinal nerve(s) presented by Robert Libby RMT.
  • A Review of the Ligamentomuscular Reflexes: Implications for Musculoskeletal.
  • Rehabilitation presented by Robert Libby RMT.
  • A Review of the Ligamentous Articular Tissue Pain Referral Patterns: Implications for Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation by presented by Robert Libby RMT.
2:00 p.m.
Dr. Alex Scott: Mechanotherapy and Beyond "Current Exercise-based Treatment Approaches for Tendinopathy"

Location: Main Meeting Room (Rooms 301-305)
Dr. Alex Scott, speaker at the 2020 RMTBC Conference on Massage Therapy and Rehabilitation

Dr. Scott is an Associate Professor at UBC, in the department of physical therapy. He has graduate degrees from UBC in exercise physiology and experimental medicine. Dr. Scott’s research targets a widespread problem, overuse injuries and chronically painful tendon disorder in workers and athletes. His laboratory is examining the biological and biomechanical responses of tendons to mechanical loading and/or injury, and he also engages in a variety of clinical research projects examining treatments for tendinopathy. His research has been supported locally by organizations including WorkSafeBC and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, nationally through CFI, CIHR, NSERC and the Physiotherapy Foundation of Canada, and internationally through the Canada-Scandinavia Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, and the Physical Medicine Research Foundation. His work has been incorporated into a widely used web-based clinical guideline (UpToDate©).

Learning Objectives

At the end of Dr. Scott’s presentation, attendees will:

  • Understand the pathophysiology of tendinopathies like the Achilles and patellar tendon
  • Become familiar with proven exercise-based strategies to manage common tendinopathies
  • Explain to patients how exercise stimulates tendons to repair themselves
3:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks

Location: Main Meeting Room (Rooms 301-305)