By offering this subject matter and its various topics in snack-sized bites, I hope to intrigue and challenge the reader. I am hoping to inspire your curiosity for further learning beyond these pages. This book is only the beginning. Experience and further research will teach you even more about working with our seniors and people with disabilities.
Each chapter is intended to spark discussion. Share your insights in the classroom and beyond. With discussion, more questions and ideas will emerge. This book can offer a unique experience when used directly in a classroom setting, as discussion of personalized experience will expand the contents.
Senior massage work and caregiving have their own special hurdles. We need more educated workers who are ready to tackle those hurdles with knowledge and compassion. There are a fair number of good people in these fields who are oblivious to the challenges right before them.
What are those hurdles, you ask? They can be anything from understanding more about the elderly and their trials to how medications affect our clients and our work. Caregivers can use the knowledge that therapists have to give their clients better care and to work well with other therapists they meet. And therapists need to know what caregivers know about their clients too. It’s a team effort.
I am a senior and a massage therapist. I’ll be your guide. Come! Let’s journey together into aging. Let’s explore how senior clients affect our work through The SPIRIT Method of Massage for Seniors: Raising the Bar, a Primer for Massage Therapists and Caregivers.
Each chapter is broken into sections for ease of reading and discussion.
So, let’s begin by learning more about seniors. Ready?