Marketing advice
How to shape cancer touch treatments “There are two approaches for marketing an oncology massage offering,” says Julie Bach. “You can opt to offer a treatment that’s specifically for guests with cancer, or a truly hyper-personalised offer for a variety of presenting conditions. Your degree of personalisation will differ across the spectrum of options based on your business and the capabilities of your team.”
Questions to consider when devising a marketing strategy • Why this offering? Why now? What are you hoping to achieve? • What problem or opportunity are you addressing? • Are you marketing the service in the hope that you will capture revenue from a new market or are you looking to retain existing guests as they move thorough their life journey? • Is marketing a cancer-specific service going to impact a business metric? If so, which one? https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/ cancer-statistics/risk/lifetime-risk#heading-Zero ** https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cancer/#:~:text=The%20 cancerous%20cells%20can%20invade,of%20cancer%20 during%20their%20lifetime *
Massage for pain management Dr Nina Fuller-Shavel, MB BChir and MA Hons Natural Sciences, MSc Precision Cancer Medicine Dr Nina Fuller-Shavel is a precision health and integrative medicine doctor – a scientist and educator who founded and directs the Synthesis Clinic in Hampshire, UK. “After more than a decade in integrative healthcare, I can confidently state that as long as a therapist is qualified in oncology massage – and is not directly massaging over the tumour – there’s no evidence it can cause cancer metastasis,” she says. “Just increasing blood flow does not spread cancer; to spread, cancer cells must undergo a series of changes in their biology and behaviour, which you cannot induce with massage. 42
This page: people touched by cancer require a wide range of wellbeing activities to ease their journey Right: The Made For Life Foundation is a key player in cancer-touch treatments
“Massage is now being supported in the Integrative Medicine for Pain Management Oncology SIO-ASCO Guidelines. It’s recommended for alleviating pain in patients and survivors of cancer, especially for those experiencing chronic pain following breast cancer treatment or during palliative and hospice care.”
An important part of self-care
Fuller-Shavel believes that feeling connected with another human benefits people’s quality of life: “It’s an important part of self-care that patients can give themselves during cancer treatment. Oncology massage is a very valuable therapy; it can be great for physical and mental wellbeing benefits and helps patients to reconnect with the body in a positive way.” However, she does caution spas to be aware of the fact that people can have emotional reactions during cancer touch therapy. “It’s vital to train therapists to hold space for this PLATINUM RESOURCE 2024
