Chair massage for patients and carers: a pilot service in an outpatient setting of a cancer care hospital.

Purpose: To gather patient and carer evaluations of a 20 min chair massage treatment provided one afternoon a week in an outpatient waiting area.

Method: Information gathered over a year included documented evaluation of chair massage, pre- and post-treatment well-being scores (visual analogue scale).

Results: Both patients (n=224) and carers (n=185) positively evaluated the treatment.

Chair massage for carers in an acute cancer hospital.

The Chair Massage service considered in this evaluation study was provided to carers, visiting in-patients at a major cancer hospital in the UK. The two-stage evaluation comprised: firstly, a retrospective review of treatment records for the previous 12 months (n=182), and secondly, a prospective study, gathering data by interview and a 'next-day' questionnaire from carers (n=34), during 1 week of service delivery. The study at both stages sought to identify who used the service, post-treatment comments and changes in scores using a Feeling Good Thermometer (Field, T.