Tim Barringer and Compassionate Touch for the Memory Impaired

Massage and Alzheimer’s Disease


With Alzheimer’s disease on the rise, many healthcare specialists are looking to outside resources for help manage symptoms. Sharon Puszko, Ph.D, LMT, owner/director and educator of the Daybreak Geriatric Massage Institute, wrote an article in the March 2010 issue of Massage Magazine regarding the safety of massage for Alzheimer’s disease. This post is a summarization of her article.

Nowadays it seems we all know, or know the caretaker of, someone with Alzheimer’s disease – a degenerative disease that causes memory loss, as well as changes in mood and personality – and it does not look like this trend will decline any time soon. A 2009 report from the Alzheimer’s Association states that:

1. Alzheimer’s disease is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.

2. Every 70 seconds, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s

3. Health care costs triple for people older than age 65 suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia

4. By 2030, the number of people age 65 and older who will be suffering from Alzheimer’s is estimated to reach 7.7 million

However, in the midst of these grim truths about Alzheimer’s disease, something to look forward to is the emergence of massage therapy as a technique for managing irritability and anxiety.

The article, “The effectiveness of slow-stroke massage in diffusing agitated behaviors in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease,” published in the Journal of Gerontological Nursing, states the “physical expressions of agitation such as pacing, wandering, and resisting were decreased when … massage was applied.”

Another study, “Therapeutic touch and agitation in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease,” published in the Western journal of Nursing Research, examined the effect of therapeutic touch on Alzheimer’s patients and stated “Physical nonaggressive behaviors decreased significantly in those residents who received therapeutic touch compared with those who received the simulated version and the usual care. The study provided preliminary evidence for the potential for therapeutic touch in dealing with agitated behaviors by people with dementia.”

Maintaining a predictable schedule of twice-weekly appointments is ideal when working with Alzheimer’s clients, and the appointment should be between 10 and 30 minutes. Working with clients while they are dressed and sitting in a chair will make them more comfortable as well.

Success is difficult to measure when dealing with a degenerative, fatal disease. The most we can hope for is to help the patient relax, improve circulation, facilitate better sleep patterns, and, in general, improve the quality of the client’s life. Touch is usually the last memory the Alzheimer’s disease patient can register. Touch is the first sensation we experience at birth and the last we register when all other sensations are gone.




Tim Barringer
Massage Therapist