1. Healing Touch and Cancer
Pain and Stress
Trinh Diep
St. Cloud state University
Dr. Knopf
CEEP 675- Research Method
04/27/2016

2. Pain
 “Pain is unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with
actual or potential tissue damage”.
 Chronic Pain/ Acute Pain
 Pain can affect different aspects of individuals’ lives:
Limited daily functioning
Lower work productivity
High stress
Sleep deprive
Other mental health concerns like depression or anxiety
(Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013, p. 41)

3. People with Cancer
Experience acute and chronic pain
High stress
Anxiety
Symptoms related to cancer treatments:
 Nausea/ vomiting
 Fatigue
 Skin Breakdown
 Mouth, gum, and throat problems
 Infection

4. Pain Treatments
Pharmacological:
Narcotic medication
Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
Anti-depression (Duloxetine (Cymbalta), Paroxetine (Paxil))
Non-Pharmacological:
Guided images
Deep breathing
Heat/ Cold application
Acupuncture/ Acupressure
Bio-energy field therapy

5. Healing Touch
A non-pharmacological intervention/ Bio-energy field
therapy
According to Healing beyond Borders organization (2010),
HT is defined as:
A relaxing, nurturing energy therapy that uses gentle touch
to assist in balancing physical, mental, emotional, and
spiritual well-being. HT works with your energy field to
support your natural ability to heal, is safe for all ages and
works in harmony with standard or allopathic medical care.

6. Human Energy Field

7. Healing Touch Techniques
Magnetic Clearing
Mind Clearing
Pain Drain
Hand in Motion
Hand Still
Chakra Connection
Ultrasound
Laser

8. Research Questions and Hypothesis
 Will HT be an effective intervention in treating cancer
pain and reducing stress level?
 If HT is effective, how long will the effectiveness of
HT continue to benefit patients?
 The hypothesis of this study are HT will reduce
people’s pain rating and stress level and the effects of
healing touch will last at least two weeks after the therapy
ends.

9. Literature Review
A lack of empirical evidences on healing touch treatment
The effectiveness of healing touch varies
Unknown mechanisms
Unknown side effects of healing touch
Unknown long-term effectiveness
Optimal dosage has not been defined.

10. Operational Definition
Pain is subjective-concept. Self-report of pain is the most
reliable assessment of pain.
Stress can be identified by physical or behavior signs and
symptoms, such as increase heart rate, blood pressure,
insomnia, agitation, or poor appetite.
This research study will include both male and female
healing touch practitioners, have at least level three healing
touch certification, and have been practicing healing touch
for at least 3 months.

11. Participants
Age 40-65 years old
Have been diagnosed with cancer within the last three months
Currently, undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy at
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Masonic Cancer Clinic in
Minneapolis, and Coborn’s Cancer Center in Saint Cloud,
Minnesota
Received chemotherapy or radiation therapy within the last
two weeks
Have symptoms: pain, fatigue, nausea/ vomiting, stress

12. Participants
Exclusive criteria:
Anyone who have chronic pain and stress
This study expects to recruit 50 participants for each
group (Treatment and Control)

13. Measurement Tools
Visual Analog Scale
Numeric Pain Rating Scale
Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory
43 life events
Happy and Sad life events

14. Procedure
This study will be an experimental study
This research study will consist of two steps process.
STEP 1:
In addition to routine care, participants in treatment group will
receive HT intervention. Each HT session will be conducted for
one hour each day, five days a week for three weeks at a relaxed
environment.
In the control group, participants will only receive routine care.
Participants in both HT group and control group will be asked to
rate their pain at the beginning and after three weeks (when the
treatment ends).

15. Procedure
STEP 1:
VAS NRS Holmes-Rahe
Pre-
treatment
Post-
Treatment
Pre-
Treatment
Post-
Treatment
Pre-
Treatment
Post-
Treatment
Treatment Group Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Control Group Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

16. Procedure
STEP 2:
Participants in the treatment group will be followed up at
the second week and at the forth week post-treatment.
These participants will be asked to rate their pain and
fatigue level during these follow up times.
Second week post-treatment Forth week post-treatment
VAS NRS
Holmes-
Rahe
VAS NRS
Holmes-
Rahe
Treatment Group Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

17. Analysis
 Researchers will consult with the Office of Research
and Sponsored programs at St. Cloud State
University for statistical analysis.
The data will be entered in the Statistical Package for
the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Window and the
descriptive statistics such as mean, standard
deviation, mean, mode, or median can be analyzed.
T-test and ANOVAs will also be analyzed.

18. Conclusion
 Benefits:
Individuals who are diagnosed with cancers or anyone
who is experiencing pain and high stress level.
Health care system.
Better pain management and less side effects

19. Conclusion
 Limitations:
 It is difficult to maintain the same relaxed environment.
 The presence of healing touch practitioners may have
some effects on participants’ pain and stress level.
 Participants may drop out of the study.
 Participants’ maturation will affect the result of this study.
 Participants learn to be relaxed even without HT interventions.

20. Conclusion
 Future Research:
 HT therapy has any side effects.
 Long-term used of HT therapy will cause any
changes in individuals’ energy field which may
result in health problems.
 Determine optimal dosage of HT

21. References
 FitzHenry, F., Wells, N., Slater, V., Dietrich, M. S., Wisawatapnimit, P., &Chakravarthy, A. B. (2014). A randomized placebo-controlled pilot
study of the impact of healing touch on fatigue in breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. Integrative Cancer Therapies, 13(2),
pp. 105-113. DOI: 10.1177/1534735413503545
 Ferraz, M. B., Quaresma, M. R., Aquino, L. R., Atra, E., Tugwell, P., & Goldsmith, C.H. (1990). Reliability of pain scales in the assessment
of literate and illiterate patients with rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol(17). Retrieved from http://www.physio-
pedia.com/Numeric_Pain_Rating_Scale#cite_note-x8-3
 Healing Beyond Borders Organization. (2010). Level 1 student workbook. Colorado, Lakewood: Healing Touch International, Inc.
 Ignatavicius, D. D. & Workman, M. L. (2013). Care of patients with diabetes mellitus. In Medical-Surgical Nursing: Patient-Centered
Collaborative Care. Missouri, St. Louis: Elsevier.
 Institute of Medicine Report from the Committee on Advancing Pain Research, Care, and Education. (2011). Relieving pain in America, a
blueprint for transforming prevention, care, education and research. The National Academies Press.
 MacIntyre, B., Hamilton, J., Fricke, T., Ma, Wejun., Mehle, S., & Michel, M. (2008). The efficacy of healing touch in coronary artery bypass
surgery recovery: A randomized clinical trial. Alternative therapies, 14(4), pp. 24-32. Retrieved from
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=53218014-5f0a-4171-adbd-
13762e642339%40sessionmgr105&hid=114

22. References (Cont.)
 Pagare, V. (2016). Numeric Pain Rating Scale. Retrieved from http://www.physio-
pedia.com/Numeric_Pain_Rating_Scale
 St. Cloud State University- Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. (2016). IRB consent process: Informed
consent checklist. Retrieved from http://www.stcloudstate.edu/irb/consent/checklist.asp
 St. Cloud State University- Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. (2016). IRB process. Retrieved from
http://www.stcloudstate.edu/irb/process/default.asp
 Strohmetz, D. B. (2010). Activity: Identifying potential threats to interval validity using Mrs Smith. Psychology
Department at Monmouth University. Retrieved from http://teachpsychscience.org/pdf/55201070633AM_1.PDF
 Wardell, D. W., Rintala, D., & Tan, G. (2008). Study descriptions of healing touch with veterans experiencing
chronic neuropathic pain from spinal cord injury. Explore, 4(3), pp. 187-195. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2008.02.003
 Wong, J., Ghiasuddin, A., Kimata, C., Patelesio, Bonnie., & Siu, A. (2013). The impact of healing touch on pediatric
oncology patients. Integrative Cancer Therapies, 12(1), pp.25-30. DOI: 10.1177/1534735412446864