RESEARCH: OUTCOMES OF THERAPEUTIC TOUCH

Therapeutic Touch™, is a complementary modality developed in the early 1970s by Dolores Krieger PhD, RN, Professor emeritus of New York University and Dora Kunz, an intuitive healer. You will find more about the modality itself on this website.

Dr. Krieger, a faculty member at New York University, early recognized the importance of conducting research into Therapeutic Touch outcomes.  Her 1975 study, “Therapeutic Touch: The imprimatur of Nursing” was published in the American Journal of Nursing  5 (1975): 784-787. In her research, half of the patients received Therapeutic Touch, the other regular care. Hemoglobin values were monitored to indicate outcomes. In those patients receiving Therapeutic Touch hemoglobin levels increased significantly.

Reproducibility is essential in research. Fortunately, standards of practice make Therapeutic Touch a modality which agrees with this principle of science.  Recent research published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine entitled “Therapeutic Touch Stimulates the Proliferation of Human Cells in Culture” 14:3 (2008): 233-239 states, “TT was chosen for our studies because it is a highly disciplined method, and requires extensive training to become an advanced practitioner”  (233). Wanting to control for the mind/body connection in healing, Dr. Glowowicz and her colleagues used human cells in culture. “Fibroblasts, tendon cells, (tenocytes) and bone cells (osteoblasts) were treated with TT, sham or untreated for 2 weeks and the assessed for [3H]-thymidine incorporation in the DNA and immunocytochemcial staining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA).”  They found, " A specific pattern of TT treatment produced a significant increase in proliferation of   fibroblasts,  osteoblasts and tenocytes in culture, Therefore, TT may affect normal cells by stimulating cell proliferation” (233).

In another article, “Therapeutic Touch Affects DNA Synthesis and Mineralization of human Osteoblasts in Culture” Journal of Orthopaedic Research November (2008): 1541-1546, Ankur Jhaveri et al. found “Therapeutic Touch appears to increase human osteoblast DNA synthesis, differentiation and mineralization and decrease differentiation and mineralization in a  human osteosarcoma-derived cell line” (1541).

In specific illnesses and conditions, research on outcomes of Therapeutic Touch finds the modality promotes a relaxation response, encourages healing, reduces anxiety and, because anxiety influences pain, alters the perception of pain.

Several studies on different conditions and illness in humans are discussed below.

ARTHRITIS

Gordon et al. conducted a study which found those receiving Therapeutic Touch had an improvement in function and less pain than those receiving mimic/sham Therapeutic Touch or usual care. The research was published in the Journal of Family Practice 47:4 (1998): 271-277.

BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTS

BURNS

 “The effect of Therapeutic Touch on pain and anxiety in burn patients” was published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, 28:1(1998): 10-20.  The authors, J. G. Turner, A. J. Clark, D. K Gauthier, and M. Williams, found that patients receiving Therapeutic Touch had significantly greater reduction in pain on the McGill Pain Questionnaire Pain Rating Index and Number of Words Chosen and greater reduction on the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety than did those who received sham Therapeutic Touch.

In the July 1998 issue of the American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias (211 – 216), Randy Griffin and Evelyn Vitro published “An Overview of Therapeutic Touch and its Application to Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease”. They found that Therapeutic Touch ameliorates the lives of those suffering from AD as well as the lives of caregivers and family member who learned Therapeutic Touch and offered it to their relatives. The most common outcome of Therapeutic Touch was deep relaxation which often resulted in reduction of verbal anxiety and unclenched fists.

In another study, “The Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Behavioral Symptoms of Persons with Dementia” in Alternative Therapy Health Medicine 11:1 (2005): 66-74, D.L. Woods, R.F. Cravean and J. Whitnesy found “Therapeutic Touch offers a nonpharmacological clinically relevant modality that could be used to decrease behavioral symptoms of dementia, specifically manual manipulation (restlessness) and vocalizations, two prevalent behaviors” ( 66).

Keller and Bzdek hypothesized that those receiving Therapeutic Touch would not only have less pain after the treatment but that this outcome would last four hours.  Seventy per cent of the participants who received Therapeutic Touch and 37% of those receiving sham/mimic treatments did experience relief and it lasted four hours. The sample was large enough to use statistical tests. The study, “Effects of Therapeutic Touch on Tension Headache Pain” was published in Nursing Research 35:2 (1986):101-106.

POST-OPERATIVE PAIN 

“A naturalistic inquiry of post-operative pain after Therapeutic Touch” is found in Caring as Healing: Renewal Through Hope D. A. Gaut & A. Boykin (Eds.) 199-213. This study finds Therapeutic Touch reduces post-operative pain.

If you have other questions about Therapeutic Touch research, you may email the TTNO Board Research Chair,
Judith Kanee, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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